A Fox just wants to play
by Landrogar
Summary: On his 12th birthday Naruto has finally had enough. Anything else would be spoilers. This is a Gamer fan fiction with an individual spin on the gaming concept. But don't expect everything to be idle sunshine. The rating is M for a reason. FemKyuubi. No Bashing planned. (Don't quote me on that. I love for the Civilian Council to bite themselves in the ass. )
1. Chapter 1 - Game On!

**A/N: **

**Disclaimer****: I don't own **_**Naruto**_**, nor will I ever own **_**Naruto**_**. The rights to **_**Naruto **_**belong to Masashi Kishimoto. I only claim ownership to the spin of the story this fan fiction will take and the original characters I might create for this story. **

"Hello" - Normal Speech

"_Hello" - Normal Thoughts_

"**Hello" - Inhuman Speech**

"_**Hello" - Inhuman Thoughts**_

**Hello – Game Script**

* * *

_**Chapter 1**_

_**Game On!**_

The loud noises of people bustling about could be heard around the whole village of Konoha as the preparations for the 12th annual Fire Fox Festival were underway. Stands were being erected, fireworks prepared and the thirty feet high wooden contraption of the Nine-tailed Fox placed in the middle of the main plaza of the shopping district. All this was witnessed by a small blonde boy who tried his very best to blend into the background of the bustle, to avoid the glares of fury and undiluted hatred he received, on this day of the year especially, on his way to the Ninja Academy.

Easier said than done when wearing an orange jumpsuit-monstrosity that basically screamed "I'm an easy target, please kill me!". But one Naruto Uzumaki managed to do it anyway. Kami knows he had had more than enough experience in doing so. You don't escape punishment for most of your pranks if you don't learn how to hide within a crowd even with the most hideous of clothing. And on most days the twelve-years-old boy would revel over his ability to hide in plain sight. But most days wasn't his birthday. Not that he ever really got to associate anything overly pleasant with his birthday. After all, today was the twelveth anniversary of his parents ditching him in the chaos of the Kyuubi's attack, the seventh anniversary of the caretaker at the orphanage throwing him out on the street, claiming that "five years is old enough for a demon to take care of itself", not that they ever really cared for him. Not if you don't count forbidding him from playing with any of the other children as "caring", anyway.

Therefore one might excuse his less then usual amount of enthusiasm as he hurried down the street. As fast as humanly possible while still seeming inconspicuous he moved towards his destination. It wasn't healthy for him to be out and about on this day. That, he had to learn the hard way on his fifth, seventh, and eighth birthday respectively when he wasn't able to outrun the mob of drunk and angry villagers. An uncharacteristic sigh escapes his mouth as he manages a rueful smile. "Maybe today she'll finally say yes..."

* * *

"Hey, Sakura-chan! Would you like to..."

"SHUT UP, NARUTO-BAKA!" The punch she administered to his cheek was strong enough to send Naruto to the ground. Not that anyone besides a silently fuming, blue-haired kunoichi with lavender-colored, pupil-less eyes cared to take notice of the almost daily occurrence. Next, Naruto would just jump to his feet, complain about the pink-haired banshee spending all her time and attention on the black-haired emo and sulk in one of the seats in the back of the classroom for the rest of the day.

"Why?" Interesting, how one single word is able to demand the attention of a whole class, if it doesn't fit into people's preconceptions.

Not that the banshee seemed to either notice or care. She instead stood over the blonde who was lying on the ground with her fist lifted and a tick mark on her forehead. "Why what, baka?!"

Naruto's eyes were closed as he turned to lie flat on his back. "Why do you always hit me? What have I done to you to deserve being hit, every time I try to talk to you?" His voice was rather quiet and subdued, a stark contrast to his usual loud and energetic mannerisms.

The shock over the fact that Naruto, the prankster king, loudmouth, and certified idiot of Konoha, actually asked a sensible question was soon forgotten once Sakura found her voice again. "You actually have to ask that, baka? BECAUSE YOU KEEP ASKING ME OUT ON DATES EVEN THOUGH YOU KNOW THAT SASUKE-KUN IS MY ONE TRUE LOVE!"

"I never asked you for a date." The silence following this simple answer was palpable and no one dared to move for risk of missing anything of the show taking place in front of them. Well, no one moved except for Naruto who stood up slowly and gifted Sakura with a look in the eyes she couldn't place neither here nor there. "I only ever asked you if you wanted to go eat something together."

That statement hit Sakura harder than she would ever admit. Not that she liked Naruto, but his constant attention made her feel… good, wanted,… desirable. Slowly she looked around and finally noticed that she was the center of attention of the whole class. Well… the whole class minus one brooding pre-teen emo who was preoccupied with thoughts of grandeur and killing off his own brother who was responsible for slaughtering his whole clan except him. A shiver ran down Sakura's back as she could feel the attentive and judging gazes of her classmates on her. "Well, who would want to spend time with someone like you, anyway?!"

While she took in the approving looks of the civilian ninja trainees she allowed herself a mental pat on the back for her fast thinking and even a slight amount of satisfaction for putting the idiot in his place until her gaze fell on Naruto again. What she saw in his eyes left her breathless. There was no mirth, no determination. Instead of the shining sky blue orbs that she admitted were nice to look at, they were a pale imitation showing a depth of sadness, loneliness, and hopelessness that made her want to throw up and apologize for everything she had ever said and done to him. But she couldn't. If she did that, any respect she had earned up to that point with the other civilians would be lost forever. After all, it was always better to be part of the crowd than to stand against it, wasn't it?

"Yeah… I guess you're right..." His voice was hollow and hoarse and barely more than a whisper. "How could I ever hope to be anyone's friend?" She was just able to see the first signs of tears in his eyes before Naruto turned away and walked down the steps before he avoided walking into Iruka Umino via a quick side-step as the Chunin-sensei just entered the classroom.

Stunned for a second that Naruto just walked by him without even recognizing his presence he stared after the boy he was slowly starting to see as a little brother before his teacher instincts kicked in. "Naruto! Class is about to start! Get back here!"

But it didn't have the effect Iruka anticipated. Instead of returning to the classroom, Naruto turned around and showed him a small, devastated smile, framed by streams of tears. "Sorry, Iruka-niisan. Not this time."

Iruka was shocked to put it mildly. But seeing that expression on a boy who was usually basically vibrating with excess energy would do that to anyone who cared for the boy. But the teacher inside him wouldn't allow him to delay the class for much longer so he promised himself to invite Naruto to some ramen later on. Though when he turned towards his class, he had no choice but to play witness to something he didn't think anyone thought possible: The shy, innocent Hinata Hyuuga was walking down the isle between the seats towards a still stunned Sakura with a truly thunderous expression seemingly etched onto her face.

"Haruno." As she stopped in front of the pink-haired girl and said girl turned around to her, Hinata slapped her so hard in the face that Sakura fell back on her seat. If the class wasn't frozen in shock before, it certainly was now. But no one was more shocked than Sakura who numbly looked up at the furious blue-haired girl while holding her left cheek. "YOU…" Hinata took a deep breath before she stared down at the girl who dared to spout such vile nonsense about her crush, in her anger not even noticing that she had activated her Byakugan not only unconsciously but without any hand seals. "… are not just a pitiful fan-girl excuse of a wannabe kunoichi, you are also a disgusting and despicable example of a human being."

Her piece said, Hinata returned to her seat and sat down, only to notice that every pair of eyes in the room except one, belonging to a certain Uchiha, was focused on her. "I… I… m-mean..." And with that the pressure became too much and the shy Hyuga fainted into blissful unconsciousness with a pretty, dark red hue on her face contrasting her hair.

* * *

Small feet falling on cobblestone could be heard trudging through the darkness as Naruto walked along the dark alleys of Konoha without destination or purpose.

Well… he did have a purpose but he tried to avoid thinking about it.

Instead he let the sounds of the festivities wash over him, imagining what it would be like to walk the brightly lit streets hand in hand with his parents, wearing kimonos and laughing from the depth of their hearts. "That would have been nice, wouldn't it?" His whispered question dispersed in the wind and the empty streets. Another image of him playing the many different games with his classmates, having fun and enjoying each others company came to mind but that one quickly changed into him losing at every game and being laughed at again and again. The voice of Sakura still rang in his head over and over again. "Yeah… who would want to spend any of their time with me anyway? I'm just Naruto, the dobe, the idiot, the menace of Konoha, the demon, the Kyuubi-brat… yeah right… people would think if I really was the Kyuubi I would be able to fight back, wouldn't they?" Another sigh with a mumbled "idiots" escaped his throat before he lifted his head to look at the lone figure standing before him in the middle of the street: Clad in unusual ANBU garb with the hilt of a katana peeking over the left shoulder and a nondescript ANBU mask covering the face. Silence reigned supreme before Naruto let out a dry laugh that had no business coming from a boy so young. "Hello, Shi-san. Did you finally decide that it's time to come for me?" Nobody could miss the barely hidden hope behind the mirth filling Naruto's voice, but the figure didn't seem to care.

"Danzo-sama says you're almost ready but just not quite there yet.", the man said in a monotonous voice before moving his right hand towards his left shoulder. Naruto was just barely able to see the man flick his wrist before half his vision blacked out and Naruto fell to his knees pressing his hands to his left eye while stifling a scream. While his lungs demanded the release and punished him with pain for barring the same, Naruto, while reveling in the thought of it all finally ending, would never give his tormentors the satisfaction of seeing him break. "HE'S OVER HERE! I FOUND THE DEMON!" If opening his mouth wouldn't have resulted in Naruto crying out his soul, he would have laughed about the fact that even while screaming the man's voice was still completely monotone.

It didn't take long for the thunder of feet hurrying towards him to fill the streets and with his last conscious act before pain became the only thing he could feel Naruto showed the mob of rage and hatred his best cheeky grin to date despite the blood flowing down and between his fingers.

* * *

Iruka was just short of full out panicking. After class came to an early end so the children had time to prepare for the Fire Fox Festival he instantly made his way towards Ichiraku's Ramen, assuming that would be where the blonde prankster would be, stuffing his face with his favorite food in an attempt to lift his spirit, only to hear that Naruto hadn't been there all day.

Next he went to his apartment, if one could still call it that. The building, once a decent and nice one to live in, was run down and sprayed top to bottom with demeaning and spiteful graffiti. The windows were either broken or barred with wooden planks and one wouldn't believe that anybody could ever live here. The state of the building was one of the reasons which had Iruka spurred to try to adopt Naruto over the last few years but every time he tried the civilian council or one of the elders would find some kind of convoluted reason to block said try, with their last one being that Naruto was taken off the list of children up for adoption because "the adopting family would be in danger of unforeseeable repercussions". That those "repercussions" would in all cases be instigated by hateful civilians and ninjas with civilian background was simply left out of the explanation.

But as Naruto wasn't in his apartment either, Iruka had had to contemplate if he was willing to break his promise to Naruto and go to his secret getaway atop the Hokage Monument, specifically the head of the fourth Hokage. Iruka had been there only once, about a year ago, when he was searching for Naruto because he was skipping class again. He had to promise him to never look for him there, as that was the only place he had ever had any reprieve from the glares of the villagers. In return Naruto had to promise him to only go there when he wasn't skipping classes or hiding from his pursuers after a prank.

But this time it was different. He had never seen such desperation and sadness in the boys eyes before and had a disconcerting feeling nagging in the back of his mind telling him that something bad was going to happen. Therefore he asked Kami for forgiveness and prayed that Naruto would forgive him as well. But as it turned out he needn't have bothered because Naruto wasn't there either and slowly but surely that nagging feeling was surfacing to the forefront of his mind telling him to hurry up before it was too late. That had been almost three hours ago.

Now Iruka was racing down the dark streets away from the festival in a frenzied search for his little brother figure, even his abilities as a sensor seemed to have forsaken him until Naruto finally appeared on the edge of Iruka's sensory field. But… he had to read the chakra waves wrong because there was no trace of the burning, barely containable energy that was Naruto Uzumaki. This was… not even an outcry for help. It was not even a whisper. It was a whimper, a sigh… the last embers of a once raging fire that was about to die out completely.

Faster than Iruka had ever moved before in his life he raced across streets and over rooftops only to find a small, mangled body in a dark side-street clad in the tattered and blood soaked lumps of what used to be a glaringly orange jumpsuit. There were cuts and bruises all over his body, his right femur had broken through his skin and was visible for all the world to see, but his face was by far the worst: His sun-kissed hair was soaked and crusted over with blood, the right side of his face had swelled to proportions that made it unrecognizable and a sword slash had carved a red line from his left eyebrow down to his cheek, taking his eye out in the progress. "Naruto?"

Had Iruka been able to concentrate on anything besides the boy he would have noticed the chakra signature of a ninja race away from the scene to report to his master that the mission had been accomplished. But he hadn't. He couldn't. "Naruto!"

"Nii-san?"

The weak voice that was barely a painful croak shook Iruka out of his stupor and made him lift up the small body that was way too light for a boy his age. "Naruto." His voice rang with relief as he made his way as fast as he could towards the hospital.

"Am I ready now?"

Iruka almost tripped over when he heard the question. Had someone told Naruto he had to go through this to become a ninja? His mind raced almost as fast as his body but without more information there was nothing he could do. "Ready for what?"

Iruka had to strain his hearing to hear the hoarse whisper that was Naruto's voice. "Danzo said… I'm not ready yet." His mind came to an abrupt halt as a fury spread throughout Iruka with an intensity he had never felt before in his entire life. But those flames were doused just as quickly with Naruto's next words. "Am I finally allowed to die?" The hope in his weak voice was palpable beyond belief and made Iruka almost double his speed in desperation. How could this accursed village treat its savior in such a way that he was asking for the sweet relief of death?

* * *

Hiruzen Sarutobi was enjoying the festival with his family, his grandson Konohamaru riding on his shoulders so his son Irashi and his wife Kira could walk arm in arm next to him. With a pang of sadness his mind wandered to Asuma, his second born, who wasn't in the village due to his assignment as one of the Twelve Guardian Ninja of the Daimyo. Sometimes he regretted to be so demanding of his son that he basically drove him out of the village but then again he was sure that, had he pushed Asuma not as hard as he had, he never would have become a Jonin by the age of twenty-one. After the short bout of sadness he returned his focus back to the moment and smiled a soft smile as he could feel his grandson shift on his shoulders, trying to take in everything all at once. "Are you having fun, Konohamaru?"

"Sure am, Jiji!", was the immediate response of the child that unintentionally sent a massive wave of regret over Hiruzen that put a giant dampener on his mood, as the wording of his grandson put a picture of the one other person he saw as his grandson before his eyes. Naruto… where should he even begin?

His first mistake was actually honoring the last wish of his successor and tell both councils about Naruto being the Jinchuriki of the Kyuubi. He knew who the last two Jinchuriki had been and exactly why that information had never been disclosed to the open public. But not granting the dying wish of a man like Minato Namikaze would have forced him to commit Sepukku. Not out of obligation but because he would have betrayed the trust of one of the best men, if not **the **best man he had ever had the privilege of knowing.

The second mistake was the decision of not telling Naruto anything about his parents. "With good reason", he had once again told himself. Minato and Kushina had a combined bounty of over two billion ryo. Not just Iwa, but Kiri and Kumo would have done anything to see him dead. And because Naruto was a loudmouth and attention starved to boot he would have proclaimed his heritage across the village in a matter of minutes and he wasn't naive enough to believe that the other villages didn't have spies in his village.

Lastly, his third mistake was that he had included the civilian council into the workings of the village. First a measure to help him with the overwhelming amount of administrative work after the Kyuubi attack, they soon used their new position to integrate themselves into the legal system of the village, and with backing from the elders Homura Mitokado, Koharu Utatane, and Danzo Shimura, there was nothing he could have done to counteract in time. Since then, they have used their power over the civilian legislative to basically give everyone who hasn't broken the statute of secrecy in their ploy to hurt Naruto a "Get-out-of-Prison-Card".

Hiruzen sighed deeply. If only he could turn back time and use his own life to seal the Kyuubi away. At least then Minato would have been able to defend his son. "Hokage-sama!"

Hiruzen's head swirled to the left where one of his personal ANBU guards, this one wearing a stylized cat-mask, appeared in a kneeling position to the left in front of him. "What is it, Neko?"

"The Maelstrom resides within the kingdom of the Slug." Within a moment, Hiruzen had placed Konohamaru with his parents and had Shunshin'd to the hospital where he raced by the reception towards the operation room that was reserved solely for Naruto. Well not exactly for Naruto, but there were seals in place that only allowed the very few doctors in of whom he knew that they would treat Naruto and not try anything to worsen his health.

Finally there, he saw something that did anything but elevate his fears of the situation. There, in one of the chairs next to the closed off operation room, sat Iruka with both his head and his hair down, staring at his forehead protector he held in his blood drenched hands. A closer look told him that it weren't just his hands that were red with blood, but his arms and vest as well. "Iruka-kun."

But the Chunin didn't seem to notice anything around him, he simply kept staring at the symbol on his forehead protector and let the first of many tears fall on the cold metal. Seeing as he had not been heard, Hiruzen knelt before him and put a hand on Iruka's right shoulder. "Iruka." Finally, Iruka looked at him and the smallest spark of recognition appeared in the younger man's eyes. "What happened?"

Iruka took a shuddering breath and straightened his back as to which Hiruzen rose to his full height again. "I can't say for sure…" Iruka moved his protector in such a way that the ceiling tile right above Hiruzen was visible in the reflection of the shiny metal. With a miniscule widening of his eyes, Hiruzen snapped with his fingers and a moment later the sound of metal slicing through flesh and bone could be heard.

Another moment later, Neko appeared with a cloth in her left hand which she used to wipe the blood off her blade. "It is done, Hokage-sama."

With a nod of the Sandaime Hokage the ANBU guard vanished back into the shadows and left the two men to their conversation.

With another steadying breath, Iruka nodded and continued his report. "… but my best guess is that a mob lead by one or more of Danzo's Root operatives got a hold of him…" Another few tears fell on Iruka's lap while Hiruzen tried to keep his stony expression.

"How do you know it was Danzo?" While his exterior was the perfect image of a calm and collected leader, Hiruzen's voice held a rather noticeable angry tremor to it.

"Naruto..." Iruka shuddered again. "He told me that 'Danzo didn't think he was ready yet', before he fainted due to blood loss."

This time an angry growl escaped the aged Hokage's throat. "How did they get past the ANBU guards I stationed outside his apartment?!"

"I..." Hiruzen wouldn't have thought someone could look anymore devastated than Iruka before he had asked his question, but apparently Iruka knew how to trump even that with slumped shoulders, desperation etched into his face, and dark brown eyes that basically screamed that he would never be able to forgive himself. "I don't think they did. There was an altercation before class today that involved Naruto and Sakura Haruno. I had just entered the room when Naruto walked by me with an expression that showed deep hurt and desperation. I wanted to go after him, but I am a teacher not just to Naruto but to the rest of the class as well. And so I told myself that I had time, that I would catch up to him later and invite him to Ichiraku's. So, when class ended I went there only to be told by Ayame and Teuchi that they hadn't seen him all day. I thought 'unusual but maybe he just went home to vent his emotions' so I went there, only to find the same: No sign of him. After waiting for a bit I… I..." Iruka coughed a bit and after a few deep, calming breaths he continued. "I broke my promise to him. I went to his secret hiding spot to look for him only to come up empty again. And then… I just searched the whole village for the next few hours."

Hiruzen lifted an eyebrow in disbelief. "He avoided your sensor abilities?"

A low chuckle escaped Iruka's throat at the thought that came to him while he was searching for his younger brother figure. "He might just be a prodigy yet, Hokage-sama. My best guess is: He didn't want to be found. And not just by his pursuers, by anyone. He..." His body shook again with sadness and regret and another bout of tears escaped the young man's eyes. "H… Hiruzen..." And suddenly the gravity of the situation was multiplied by the dozen. The aged Hokage had given Iruka permission to call him by his given name in private years ago but never, not a single time, had Iruka ever used his name. It 'lacked the proper amount of respect he was due' he had said. "He… he asked me if he was finally allowed to die." A soft gasp could be heard in the silence that ensued, but no one seemed to notice it. "I… I think he went out there tonight to commit suicide by proxy…"

Finally the stony exterior of the Hokage broke with a sharp intake of air before tears started rolling down his face. How… how could he have let things come this far? How could someone so bright and happy… And finally it clicked. Naruto had never been as happy as he lead others to believe. How could he have been? His "grandfather" was way too busy to spend much time with him. His "older brother" was a teacher and had seldom any time to himself. The Ichiraku's owned a two man stand and had to run the business almost twenty-four hours a day to keep it afloat. They lost a massive amount of customers because they allowed him to eat there and talked to him. Naruto had created a mask to keep them from worrying about him and they all fell for it.

"And…" Hiruzen didn't want to hear any more. The situation was already bad enough as it was. But he had to and so he let Iruka continue. "… I'm afraid that he might get his wish, Hiruzen… He has broken bones, heavy bruising, stab wounds, and… and… he lost his left eye, Hiruzen!" But Iruka's rage was short lived and only all too soon replaced by self-loathing. "What happened to us, Hokage-sama? We were once Konoha, the first of the Hidden Villages, founded on the principle of camaraderie and collaboration. And this little, innocent boy with a heart of gold saves and protects us every single day, every single moment that he lives and breathes… And how do we repay him? By hurting him, ignoring him, insulting him… We turned him into someone who came to abhor his own life! A life that should have been filled with love, friends, fun and adventure and what did he get? He suffers! He suffers more than anyone in a village that he calls home, not because he wants to, but because he has to! He suffers more than anyone should ever be allowed to suffer and he has to do so alone because he has no one to go to. The few of us who care about him are too busy to spend any meaningful amount of time with him. The clans seemingly don't care about one of their own and the clan heirs ridicule him because he is the dead last in class. The villagers have isolated him from their children and ostracized him. He… Hokage-sama… he is malnourished… extremely so.

"He… never told me…" Hiruzen's voice was thick with hurt and sorrow and he felt all his years weighing down on him in this moment.

"Me neither…" Iruka sighed in desperation. "I only know because I carried him here. His puffy jumpsuit hid all the signs way too well. I think… he was afraid, Hiruzen… afraid that if he complained to us we would think of him as a nuisance or some such and stop spending the bit of time we have with him. We should have been better, Hiruzen… No, we **need** to be better! We reveled in complacency and look where it took us: We forced a child into isolation through no fault of his own to the point he tried to commit suicide just to escape the loneliness! Our ancestors would be ashamed of us." Finally, Iruka's voice failed him. He was exhausted, physically, mentally, and emotionally, and one could see that with a simple glance.

With a deep breath, Hiruzen rose to his feet and a moment later his tears dried up. None of them had noticed when he had fallen to his knees and neither of them cared. With a nod to the scarred Chunin the last traces of sorrow vanished from the Sandaime's face, replaced by a deep scowl that both deepened the wrinkles on his face and made him look twenty years younger simultaneously. "Neko!"

The named ANBU appeared in the typical kneeling position that was to be assumed when taking orders from a Kage. "Yes, Hokage-sama?"

"I want a team of six ANBU guarding Naruto Uzumaki for the foreseeable future. At least four are to be around him at any time of the day. If anyone wants to see him, they are to send them to me. If anyone tries to force their way inside or seems in any way suspicious to them I want them to remove their head and send it to T/I for later examination. If I hear about or see any of them slacking off, they will pull double shifts until his graduation day. Am I understood?" The commanding voice of the Hokage sent shivers through the spine of anyone present.

"Yes, Hokage-sama!" And with a swift Shunshin, Neko was gone.

"Tora!" This time, an ANBU with an ANBU-style tiger mask appeared in kneeling position, but this time Hiruzen didn't wait to be acknowledged. "Find Ryu and tell her to meet me in my office. Remind her to bring the 'last gift'. Afterwards you are to inform all council members of an emergency meeting taking place in two hours time!" He had been stagnant for too long. People only seemed to remember him as 'The Professor' anymore. Time to remind them why the Five Elemental Nations used to call him the 'Kami no Shinobi'.

* * *

Mebuki Haruno had been working for Konoha General for barely two years before she met her future husband Kizashi when a mission had gone wrong. She was the nurse assigned to his room and almost fell over laughing when she saw his bubblegum pink hair upon entering. Not the best start into a relationship she would admit later on but when you hear that a mission has gone south and you're assigned, one would usually expect something like debilitating wounds, maybe a missing limb or two, **not** a pouting, bubblegum-haired fifteen-years-old Genin who had pulled a muscle. However, after telling said Genin that the shade of pink of his hair was actually quite cute on a guy, she had a blushing, pouting mess on her hands that made her want to tie the teen up and take him home, telling her mother "Look what I found at work today, can I keep him please?". She was seventeen at the time, sue her. Two years later he proposed after learning of her pregnancy. Not that he had needed any motivation, that just gave him a viable excuse for her father, who never quite managed to become friends with the idea that his grandchildren would possibly walk around with pink hair, a hue he sentenced as vile and unnatural. She accepted his proposal under the condition he would resign from the service and never did she thank Kami more than approximately three months later when he didn't have to join the other Chunin and Jonin in their fight against the Kyuubi. Five months later she gave birth to a healthy baby girl but sadly there were complications which resulted in her no longer being able to have another baby. That had been almost twelve years ago from then and still she sometimes wished she would have been able to have one more child.

Not that any of those thoughts were going through the head of the crying, quivering mess who had sunken to the ground around the corner of the reserved operation room. She wasn't exactly allowed there, but as she had never shown any direct animosity towards the young Jinchu… Naruto, she wasn't exactly banned from going there either and when the Hokage just rushed past everyone her curiosity had taken over. And now she wished it hadn't. She knew Naruto wasn't a weakened Kyuubi or its reincarnation, her husband had made sure of that, but she was wary. She didn't know anything about Fuinjutsu and therefore tried to come to terms with it in her own way. In the end she came to the conclusion that two beings bound together had to have some kind of connection.

She had seen the seven-years-old Naruto save her Sakura from Ami and her little gang, something no one had ever done for her daughter except herself and her husband. But instead of thanking the young boy for his kindness and courage, she had simply pulled her daughter away from him without losing a word and later on telling Sakura that she shouldn't associate herself with him. She had been afraid that the demon fox would influence the boy in some way and harm the only child she would ever have.

And now she would have to live with the knowledge that she had basically helped push a child the same age as her own little treasure to try and take his own life. How would history have turned out if she had instead encouraged her daughter to make a new friend? Kami knew Sakura had needed one as much as he. She might have gotten over her insecurities and would have learned to stand up for herself. And he… Sakura could have been the first of many friends: Ino would have surely followed and practically dragged Shikamaru and Choji with her. After a while, other children would have followed and slowly but surely the adults would have seen that he was a child just like any other. He might have even gotten adopted into a loving family.

Instead here he was, fighting for… no. He wasn't fighting to stay alive. She and every other civilian in this village had made damn sure that he didn't have anything worth fighting or staying alive for. Instead it was the doctors in there fighting for his life with him probably wishing for them to stop simply to escape the hell they all had created for him to live in.

Who would tell an eight-years-old orphan that his parents never loved him and that they basically used the biggest catastrophe in the history of Konoha to get rid of him? Kutsumi Habara, that's who! Her house is two numbers further down from Mebuki's own.

Who would throw a five-years-old child out of the orphanage because she was fed up with him begging her to let him play with the other children? Gerana Tsu. She sees her every Saturday in the supermarket. How many times has she proudly stated that taking care of the children has become so much easier since then, because she didn't have to watch out for 'the blonde menace' trying to mingle with the 'normal' children?

Who would charge a six-year-old child ten times the normal price for an apple, calling it 'demon-tax', while giving her a pound of apples for free not three minutes later so that her 'little angel' would get enough vitamins and stay healthy? Shigure Utatane, the owner of the supermarket she has been buying her groceries from for the last twenty years.

And what kind of heartless monster would associate with all the above without batting an eye while ignoring an obviously hurting child, just because it was easier? That was her, Dr. Mebuki Haruno, Wife of Kizashi Haruno, mother of Sakura Haruno, and one of many reasons why the boy on that operation table wasn't fighting for his life and instead praying for his life to finally be over.

So deep had she fallen into her self-loathing that she hadn't even noticed when the Sandaime Hokage had arrived in front of her. "Councilwoman Haruno." His stern tone managed to pull her out of those thoughts rather quickly, though. Not that it managed to stem the flood of tears still welling out of her eyes. "I would beseech you not to tell anyone what you have heard here. As you have witnessed, it was quite personal."

Slowly, she pushed herself up against the wall and kept leaning against it once she was standing to stay that way. She wouldn't trust her legs with carrying her whole weight with all the trembling they were doing at the moment. "Of course, Hokage-sama." Her voice was trembling just as much as her legs were and with barely a whisper she added "I'm sorry, Hokage-sama." in a way that made it clear that she didn't mean the eavesdropping.

"I'm not the one you should direct these words to, Haruno-san." Slowly Mebuki lifted her head and saw the battle-hardened expression on his face soften almost imperceptibly. "Let's hope you get the chance." With that, he walked past her as she dipped her head in both acknowledgment and shame. But apparently Hiruzen wasn't done with her yet, as he halted once again, this time without looking at her. "And may I suggest you ask your husband to attend the emergency meeting in your stead? It will be very taxing and I am sure you have had more than enough taxing revelations for one day."

Her legs finally stable enough to carry her weight, Mebuki pushed herself off of the wall and bowed down as far as she trusted herself to be able to do right now without planting her face on the floor. "Thank you for your thoughtfulness, Hokage-sama. Would it be too much trouble to beseech you to send one of your ANBU to notify him of my decision along with my thanks and apologies to my daughter? He took her out to see the festival and I don't want her to walk the streets alone at night. Not after… what already happened tonight."

Hiruzen seemed to contemplate her request for a moment before given her a short nod. " Taka." Just like Neko and Tora before them, Taka appeared kneeling before the Hokage. "You heard her request?" A sharp nod was his answer. "Please notify her husband and daughter of our decisions. I think I will survive the next five minutes with only one ANBU guard." Another sharp nod and Taka was gone. "Let us hope that the next time we meet will be under more pleasant circumstances, Haruno-san. I wish you a restful night." And with that, he left at a moderate pace. Apparently he had a lot to think about if he didn't immediately Shunshin towards the Hokage Tower.

* * *

Hiruzen Sarutobi looked on solemnly as he watched the council chamber slowly fill one by one from his seat at the head desk of the chamber. He had to say, he was thankful that none of the ninja clan heads seemed to know what this meeting was about. While not all of them showed it on their faces, their body language spoke volumes. Even Hiashi Hyuuga was no exception. Hiruzen had to fight down an oncoming snort. _"All-seeing-eyes. Sure." _For the civilian side of the council however, Hiruzen had to school his facial expressions to not immediately snarl and give away his hand. Almost half of the civilian council didn't even bother to hide the glee on their faces.

And then there came Danzo Shimura. The rhythmical tapping of his cane just a tad bit faster than usual, his shoulders held that tiny bit higher and the one visible brow on his carefully crafted neutral expression just that iota more relaxed: The bastard was basically grinning from ear to ear. With a heavy sigh, Hiruzen dipped his head low to hide his oncoming scowl and to give himself time to place the mask of the sorrowful grandfather back on his face.

Once all council members, as well as his advisers, were seated, the doors of the chamber fell into lock with a heavy thud that resounded from the walls. The privacy and locking seals flashed up shortly, notifying everyone of their activation. Nothing short of a Bijudama would be able to break through those doors until they were opened again from the inside.

"Hiruzen, may I inquire why you called for this meeting?" Leave it to Homura Mitokado to sound condescending while trying to undermine the authority of the Hokage and the hierarchy of the Village hidden in the Leaves.

The Sandaime Hokage closed his eyes in an attempt to stem his irritation. _"Patience, Hiruzen. It's not much longer." _When his eyes opened again he looked all the parts of an elderly leader whose responsibilities were growing too much for him. "About three hours ago, Naruto Uzumaki was attacked by yet unknown assailants and is currently fighting for his life in one of the hospital's operation rooms."

It didn't even take a full minute before pandemonium broke loose on the civilian side of the council with furious shouts ranging from "The Demon is still alive?!" to "Stop wasting medical supplies on that thing!".

It took the Sandaime almost three minutes to instill even a modicum of order back into the council chamber but before he could say anything more, he was interrupted again. "I told you so years ago."

The Hokage's eyes wandered to his right, where the overly bandaged member of the elder council sat, measuring him with an emotionless stare. "Danzo?" A speck of hope popped up in his heart.

"Had you heeded my advice and let me take the jinchuriki under my command, it wouldn't be in this situation and we would have a weapon ready to rip apart our enemies!" It was interesting to hear how much passion reverberated in the elder's voice without any of it showing on his face.

With a sigh, Hiruzen sank further back into his seat and closed his eyes. "You're right, Danzo. You did tell me so years ago." The slightest sign of a smirk could be seen on the cripple's face. "And thank you, Ryu." A bout of confusion rolled through the room, before all eyes landed on the ANBU commander stepping out of the shadows behind the Sandaime, her stylized dragon mask seemingly grinning in anticipation.

More confused looks were exchanged until the focus shifted to a still but obviously struggling Danzo, whose visible eye was darting around in panic and desperation. "Hiruzen, what have you done!?" was the startled and furious exclamation of one Koharu Utatane.

But when the Sandaime rose from his chair, the caring and peace-loving 'Professor' was gone. There, to the awe of some and the fear of many, stood Hiruzen Sarutobi, Sandaime Hokage and Kami no Shinobi, without saying a word. Instead he waited until the tension in the room had risen to an all-time high before he turned towards Ryu who handed him a shining and well-cared-for katana. And with a single flick of his wrist he severed Danzo's head from his shoulders. No one said a word, with some of the civilians sweating out of fear. Danzo had been one of their biggest supporters and without him, many of their shadier dealings would either suffer or soon become known to people who they would have rather kept in blissful ignorance.

With another flick of the Hokage's wrist, not one drop of blood remained on the sword, which he handed back to its owner afterwards and with a satisfied smile on his face he sat down again while two ANBU sealed the corpse and head in two different scrolls. "To explain: I used one of the last Seals created by the late Minato Namikaze to seal off his chakra and body movements."

"That was murder, Hiruzen!" But the screamed protest of Homura was drowned in a wave of killing intent that those who were old enough remembered only all too well from the third Great Ninja War.

"I am the Sandaime Hokage and you will refer to me as such, Mitokado!" With a deep breath, Hiruzen Sarutobi let his KI subside before glaring at him and Koharu. "And it seems that you all needed a reminder of the law I laid down on this very day twelve years ago: 'The information of who the Kyuubi's jinchuriki is, is an S-Class secret and all matters concerning the status of said individual are not to be discussed in any form. Doing so is punishable by execution.' Danzo served as that reminder and simultaneously paid for a rather steep list of crimes including the instigation of a lynch mob on a twelve-years-old boy and the complete disregard of a direct command of the Hokage. Are you happy with that explanation?"

The Kami no Shinobi let his gaze wander across the chamber and quietly enjoyed the scared and disconcerted expressions on most of the civilian council's faces. "Good. Now, as I am without a doubt the most knowledgeable person concerning Fuinjutsu in this room, let me tell you all a little story: Once upon a time, Konoha faced the greatest threat in all the Elemental Nations, the Kyuubi no Kitsune. Our beloved Yondaime Hokage fought against it valiantly, only to realize that he was fighting against a force no one but **maybe** Hashirama Senju would be able to destroy. And so, with his unfathomable abilities in the Sealing Arts, he chose an innocent child, a baby, born not even an hour before, to seal away the walking catastrophe that was trying to destroy our home, saving us all in the process. Now, I know many a family was torn apart that fateful day twelve years ago…" Hiruzen waited a few moments, taking a deep breath, and then scowled the civilian council into submission. "… BUT WHO THOUGHT KILLING THE ONE PERSON KEEPING THE EQUIVALENT OF A NATURAL DISASTER LOCKED AWAY WOULD BE A GOOD IDEA?!"

Either the Sandaime should have used a bit of KI at the end of his speech, or some people are simply too stupid for their own good, because a rather heavy set member of the civilian council actually rose from his seat with a mixed expression of self-righteousness and indignation. "The Yondaime sealed the Kyuubi away so we could finish what he couldn't: Kill the demon! Why else would he have chosen an orphan to house the Kyuubi instead of someone like Uchiha-sama who could have used its power to bring Konoha to new heights of power and wealth?"

In any other situation, the Sandaime would have had a rather gobsmacked expression on his face, but in this case the stupidity of what the fat pig, that called itself human, spouted was so revolting, he was lacking words to describe it. "And whose expertise did you take under consideration to come to that conclusion?" Hiruzen's tone alone was a promise of pain and retribution. "The reason the Yondaime used Naruto was because he was the only newborn that day with no chakra coils to speak of. Sasuke Uchiha was almost three months old back then, his chakra coils developing already, and sealing the Kyuubi inside him would have resulted in a most cruel and agonizing death." Sarutobi took the horrified expression of the civilian council and his remaining two advisers in with a great deal of satisfaction. "As for killing the Kyuubi: You would be correct in that regard. If Naruto dies, so does the Kyuubi." Another idiot jumped up and started screaming about the righteousness of their cause. With a wave of Hiruzen's hand, both Taka and Tora appeared right behind his chair, standing at attention and awaiting his command. "Take councilmen Akataka and Yurogiri to Ibiki Morino for disregarding the Hokage's orders and reminders over and over again. Tell Ibiki he has free reign."

The fear in the room was palpable but the reigning silence was broken once both men in question were restrained and protesting loudly. "You can't do this! We're members of the civilian council! You have no authority over us!" A chop to the neck later and silence was again prevalent in the room.

"The full title of these councils are Shinobi & Civilian **Advis****o****ry **Councils." The glare Hiruzen directed especially towards the civilian side of the room ensured their silence. "You all live inside the walls of Konoha, a **Shinobi** village. You don't have any power the Hokage doesn't give you and the last time I checked the title of Hokage still belonged to me."

He waited a moment longer until his ANBU had left the room with the ex-councilmen and the door closed behind them, leaving the rest of the council members at his mercy again. "Now, where were we? Ah, yes. The fact that when Naruto dies, the Kyuubi does as well. Not exactly a wrong notion, only terribly misinformed." A deep sigh escaped his throat as he reveled in the feeling of scolding the people that made his honorary grandson's life a living hell. "Who of you can tell me what happens if a biju dies?"

Silence.

"No one? I thought so. Now listen here, and listen closely because your lives depend on if I finally manage to get through those unbelievably thick skulls of yours!" The last part, the Sandaime basically growled. "If a biju dies, their chakra disperses and they vanish, only to appear somewhere in the world a few years later. Now, I cannot say how long it would take for the Kyuubi to re-form again, because it has never, not even **once** in human records, been defeated other than by sealing away. But you can be sure of one thing: It would be back eventually and this time we wouldn't have a Fuinjutsu-Master to save our sorry hides." Silence prevailed again and for the first time in many years, Hiruzen saw a few of the council members deep in thought. "Pray that Naruto survives this day, because if he doesn't there won't be any fines to pay. I will discover who participated in the attack today, both assailants and instigators, and if he doesn't pull through, I will personally kill everyone involved before the Kyuubi even gets a chance."

With one last glare in the direction of the civilians, Hiruzen moved his gaze towards the Shinobi Council where its weight pushed down upon their shoulders. "The civilians and the elders may leave." That was the first sentence in over half an hour the civilian councilors were happy to hear and most of them couldn't follow his command fast enough, though both Homura and Koharu looked rather indignant while doing so. "Now… " Hiruzen left his chair and moved down the small flight of stairs to stand in front of the Shinobi Council. "Who of you knows or at least suspects who the boys parents were?" Slowly, Shikaku Nara, Choza Akimichi, Inoichi Yamanaka, and Shibi Aburame rose from their seats, shortly followed by Tsume Inuzuka and Hiashi Hyuuga.

With a nod from Hiruzen the named clan heads sat down again. "Fine. Now tell me: What are your excuses for never offering any help to a boy who had to carry a burden that should never have been his in the first place?" There was about to be a storm of words, but the Hokage stopped that in its tracks by simply lifting his hand. "And I am not talking about adoption. As he is listed as a civilian orphan, there was nothing any of us could have done to counteract their hatred in that regard. I am talking about simple things: Buying him sweets now and again, giving him a small gift for his birthday, helping him learn the things he has difficulties with at the academy, spending some of your time with him, talking to him… a heartfelt greeting when meeting him on the streets would have already been something. You could have at least introduced him to your children!" Bit for bit, the rage in his voice died down and made way for some of the sorrow he had locked away prior to the meeting. "I lied, you know. He isn't fighting for his life."

That comment stopped every and all excuses the clan heads had prepared and they were silently watching the Hokage, trying to understand what their leader had just said. Finally, it was Shikaku who asked the question that was prevalent in all their heads. "Are you saying that..."

"No, no. Naruto is in critical condition but still alive and the doctors are doing their damned best to keep him that way. But…" Hiruzen took a deep breath to steady his voice. And while he was standing upright and his face set in a stoic expression, he couldn't keep his tears from flowing once more. "Tell me: How would you react if your child asked you if they were finally allowed to die?"

A shocked and stunned silence was his answer in case of Hiashi Hyuuga, while most of the other clan heads looked at Hiruzen with haunted horror in their eyes. Hiruzen nodded again. "While Naruto was in fact attacked and almost killed by a mob of villagers, Iruka Umino and I came to the conclusion that it was Naruto who sought the mob out in hope of escaping his personal hell we call our home. We starved that young and innocent boy of basically everything that makes us glad to be alive and left him with the worst humanity has to offer: Hatred, contempt, loneliness, isolation. So, no: He most certainly is not fighting for his life."

A sad smile appeared on the old man's face. "If his mother was here in this moment, she would want to slaughter the entirety of Konoha's civilian population and most of the ninja clans. And do you know what the most tragic thing about that would be?" His teary eyes gazed over the clan heads and he was thankful that he saw tears in most of their eyes. Even Hiashi's eyes were slightly misty. "The most tragic thing about that would be that I would have the privilege to see and speak to one of the finest women to ever live for one final time and wouldn't be able to name even one reason why she shouldn't do exactly that. Because we would deserve it. Because we managed to push her son, the son she gave up her own life for, so far that he hates nothing more than to be alive… Now please excuse me… I have certain things to prepare, in case a twelve year old boy does not survive the next few hours." With that, Hiruzen turned on the spot and walked towards the doors which opened and this time stayed that way. The meeting was officially over.

Slowly, Shikaku and the other clan heads rose to their feet to leave and get back to their families. Funny enough, it was Hiashi who halted at that thought._ "He never wanted to hear our excuses __or__ justifications. He simply wanted us to know what our inaction has __caused__."_With a frustrated growl, Hiashi clenched his teeth and his Byakugan reacted to his anger. _"Damn the clan elders! I will not break my last promise to Hitomi, __just because those arrogant fossils think the world should __bow__ to their every __whim and desire__!__" _With a determination he hadn't felt in almost eight years, Hiashi left the council chamber: He had elders to deal with and daughters to beg for forgiveness.

* * *

Sakura was miffed. The day before had decidedly not been her favorite Day of the Fox of her life. It wasn't just that Naruto, **Naruto **of all people, managed to make her feel like the worst scum in the world, or that shy and silent Hinata chose that day to grow a spine and publicly humiliate her. No, that was just the start. She was just enjoying the festival when an ANBU appeared out of nowhere and told her father that he had to attend a council meeting because her mother was indisposed. She didn't know exactly what her mother understood under the term 'indisposed' but it couldn't have been anything too aggravating because when she came home she saw her sitting in her favorite recliner with a glass of wine in her hand. There had been an uncomfortable silence until her mother asked her how her day had been. Sakura hadn't been able to shake of the feeling her mother knew, or at least had an inkling of, what happened because when she omitted the part where she basically told Naruto that he would be alone his entire life, there was an expression of equal parts disappointment and regret in her eyes. After that she just took another sip of wine, closed her eyes and leaned back into her recliner. After that: Nothing. She didn't get any explanation of what was going on or why she wasn't allowed to attend the rest of the festival.

Sakura halted for a second when she heard a whispered conversation of how 'they finally got the demon' and 'good riddance' but didn't pay it anymore attention in her agitated state. And then… then there had been her nightmare…

* * *

_She was happy. She had achieved everything she had ever dreamed of. Once puberty had hit her in full force, she had filled out nicely and while she wasn't as big as her mother in her chest area, she was content with what she had. Sasuke had also proposed to her once he, with her help of course, had managed to overcome his hatred for his brother and his depression over losing his entire clan. She had even managed to rekindle her friendship with Ino once it was obvious that Sasuke was off the market. She was a kick-ass kunoichi, the best of her entire generation in fact, and the best news of all: She was pregnant with the combination of hers and Sasuke's love. Life was good. No, it was better than good. It was perfect! _

… _So why was there that small voice in the back of her head that constantly told her, she was forgetting something? No, not something… someone. The creaking of a seesaw reached her ears. When had she arrived at the playground she used to go to as a child? She looked around and was taken aback a bit. Everything seemed so… gray. _

_There! There was that creaking sound again! _

_It didn't take her long to find the single speck of color in this gray world. There he was: A boy, maybe twelve or thirteen years old, trying to ride a seesaw… alone. She knew the boy! But for the life of her, she couldn't remember his name. And why did she feel so ashamed of herself for forgetting someone so… bright… kind… inspiring. He had been the reason she was so confident in herself! Without him… she shuddered at the thought. How had she been able to forget someone like him? _

_She was just a few steps away from him when he finally gave up and turned towards her. "Hey, Sakura-chan." _

_She was frozen in place. He had never sounded so meek, so vulnerable, so defeated. Naruto wasn't like that! Naruto was… "… Naruto?"_

_The blonde boy gave her a small smile and a nod in affirmation but something wasn't right! It had been almost fifteen years since the last time she saw him and… fifteen years? Why hadn't she seen him for almost fifteen years? No matter. He… he looked the same. The same way he looked the last time she saw him. He was a boy. Why didn't he grow up? Why… "Are you happy, Sakura-chan?" _

_This simple question threw her for a loop. Was she happy? Of course she was happy! She had everything she ever wanted in life! She had a career, friends, a loving family. She was going to be a mother! How could she not be happy? But there was this voice again, telling her that something was wrong. So terribly, terribly wrong. "Naruto… why haven't you grown up?"_

_At first there was a small expression of shock on his face until it made way to sadness and resignation. It was this look in his eyes, the one she had seen in his eyes all those years ago, that made her dread his answer. But he didn't say anything. Instead he pulled his right sleeve up to show her his arm. She fell to her knees upon see the deep cut along his wrist and tears ran down her cheeks. "Naruto… why?"_

"_I had been alone for all twelve years of my life. The thought of spending twelve more alone was too much..." He looked her in the eyes and the sadness etched into them was suffocating. _

_It was too much. She grabbed Naruto and pulled him into a bone crushing hug. "I'm sorry, Naruto! I'm so, so sorry!" _

_But Naruto didn't react. He neither pulled away from her embrace, nor did he reciprocate the hug. He just stood there, motionless. "I never wanted an apology. I never even asked for love. All I ever wanted was a friend. One friend who would make all the pain bearable. But you were right, Sakura-chan: Who in their right mind would want to waste their time with me?"_

_And then he vanished along with the playground and Konoha. She was alone, isolated in complete darkness, and she knew she didn't deserve any better. _

* * *

Sakura was shocked when she realized that she was sitting in her seat in her classroom. _"I must have walked here on autopilot." _

She was even more shocked when Ino was looking at her with what looked like genuine concern. "You alright, Sakura? You were spacing out there."

"_No '-chan', huh?" _When she remembered how she had treated one of the only people who still used that affectionate suffix with her name she felt even worse than before. She sighed and looked Ino straight in the eyes when she answered. "Not really, but there is nothing you can do to help. Still… thanks for asking, Ino." Sakura even managed a small smile to the bafflement of everyone who witnessed their verbal exchange. Sakura Haruno and Ino Yamanaka were conversing without screaming and insulting each other? What would be next? The two of them stop fighting over Sasuke's non-existing affection? Ino, though a bit surprised as well, returned the smile and let the subject lie.

With that unexpected issue out of the way, Sakura started to look around the classroom, scanning for the other blonde of their generation only to come to the conclusion that he wasn't there yet. _"Guess he's running late again..." _She couldn't deny that even her thoughts sounded desperate. She needed to see him, talk to him. She needed to apologize! She… All her thoughts came to a halt when the door opened and a clearly sleep-deprived Iruka entered the room. _"No…" _

"Iruka-sensei, what the hell happened to you!?" Kiba Inuzuka was many things: A loudmouth, a braggart, a self-proclaimed alpha male. But subtle, he was not.

"Nothing." The monotone answer and the slight cough preceding said answer did nothing to elevate Sakura's fears.

"A-Ano… I-Iruka-sensei…" The only reason Hinata's stuttering wasn't drowned by the usual background noise of the class was because there was no background noise. The children were still too stunned by the disheveled appearance of their usually impeccable teacher. Iruka's exhausted eyes slowly moved to the blue-haired girl at the back of the room. "W-where is N-Naruto-kun?"

After a shuddering intake of air and a succeeding sigh, Iruka leaned against his desk, seemingly contemplating his answer while staring at his feet. Then his eyes wandered upwards, only stopping for a single moment when they glanced over Sakura, and when they reached Hinata he simply answered: "He's in the hospital."

Before anybody could even wonder what Naruto had done this time to end up there, Sakura had bolted out of her seat, almost unhinged the door when she threw it open, and raced out of the classroom with Hinata hot on her heels.

* * *

A heavily breathing Sakura and a barely winded Hinata barreled through the entrance of Konoha General and almost smashed into the receptionist's desk. Not that they seemed to care much about that at the moment. Instead, they bombarded the receptionist, a woman in her late twenties to early thirties with light brown hair and chocolate brown eyes, with a mixture of panicked questions and hysteric pleading.

It took the woman quite a few tries before she finally had enough and silenced the two girls with a "YOUNG LADIES!" She took a breath and sat back down on her chair. "Now…" A smile that didn't reach her eyes appeared back on the receptionists face before she continued. "… how can I help you? Has there been an accident?"

A double-voiced "What room is Naruto Uzumaki in?" was the girls' answer.

Her whole friendly facade vanished upon the question and the receptionist looked like she had bitten into something exceedingly sour. "Why would you want to know something like that?"

Both Sakura and Hinata were shocked at that rapid change in demeanor and frowned in confusion. They exchanged a gaze, lavender meeting emerald, and held a silent conversation after which Sakura stepped forward and Hinata took a step back. "He is our classmate. Why do we need a reason to visit him?" The annoyance in her voice was plain to hear and Hinata was, for the first time, glad that Sakura was there with her. She knew she wouldn't have the confidence to talk like that to anyone.

"Trust me, you really don't want to associate with that d… boy." It was creepy how this woman could go from polite to unfriendly to sickly sweet and condescending. "Now please stop bothering me. I have a job to do."

Hinata and Sakura were speechless. Well… more so Hinata. Sakura was about to respond with a few choice words before a familiar voice spoke up. "So why aren't you doing it, Kumazu-san?" The girls and the receptionist turned towards the hall the voice came from to see Mebuki Haruno in her white robe walking towards them. "If I am not mistaken, you are here to process new patients and direct visitors to said patients. So please tell me, why aren't you answering their question?" Her voice was perfectly neutral, but you could see the fire in her eyes.

The girls turned back to the receptionist when they heard her gnashing her teeth. "I am not allowed to tell them the room number of the patient, seeing as they have no relation to the patient."

"Interesting..." This time a bit of contempt found its way into Mebuki's voice. "Tell me: Are Choji Akimichi and Shikamaru Nara related?" Mebuki crossed her arms as she finally reached the receptionist's desk.

"What does that have to do with anything right now?" The irritation was plain to hear for anyone listening.

"Because you had no qualms breaking your so-called 'rule' when Akimichi-san was admitted here last week due to overeating and Nara-san came to visit." During the back-and-forth Hinata and Sakura had shifted their gazes like following the ball in a ping pong game but their trance was broken once Mebuki took each of them by the hand. "Come, I'll take you to him."

That simple statement caused the receptionist to sputter in surprise. "You would let your own daughter interact with the demon?!" Her voice was filled with incredulity and indignation.

But when Mebuki looked her in the eyes again, she retreated back into her seat and leaned back as far as possible. The cold fury in her usually warm, green eyes was frightening. "Kumazu-san, I lack the words to express how disgusted I am, not just with you but with the entirety of this village, me included, but you should really watch your mouth." Mebuki started moving and dragged the girls with her, only to stop a few steps later and turning back towards the other woman. "After all, you wouldn't want Hokage-sama to know that you slipped up in front of two academy students, would you?" The receptionist blanched rapidly and the last Sakura saw of her was her looking around frantically before they took a turn and a wall obstructed her view.

"… Mom?" They had been walking for over two minutes before Sakura was able to find her voice again. "Why did she call Naruto a demon?"

Mebuki slowed her walking pace but she didn't look at either of the girls. "I'm sorry, Sakura-chan, but I am not allowed to talk about that."

Sakura's eyes went wide before she turned towards Hinata who returned her look of confusion and befuddlement. "What do you mean 'you are not allowed'? Why would you not be allowed to talk about him?" Again, her mother did not look at her and instead led them around another corner, where they saw a door guarded by two ANBU at the end of the hall.

Once there, Mebuki let go of the girls' hands and bowed politely. "Neko-san."

The ANBU with the cat mask gave her a short nod. "Haruno-san."

"My daughter and Hinata Hyuuga wish to see Naruto Uzumaki."

Neko nodded again and moved next to Mebuki to look at the girls. "Hokage-sama has decreed that anyone who wants to visit Naruto has to be approved by him personally." Sakura and Hinata were only able to stare in surprise at the ANBU. What had happened to justify that much security? "Do you wish me to take you to him or do want to walk there by yourselves?"

"H-Hai!" All eyes were on Hinata who had clasped her hands in front of her and bowed as deep as she could. "P-please t-take me to H-hokage-sama!"

It took Sakura a few seconds to reconnect the synapses in her brain over the fact that Hinata had almost screamed her agreement but once she processed the question she bowed as well and surprised everyone with a subdued "Please...".

Neko nodded and stood between the two girls but before they vanished, Mebuki knelt down and hugged her daughter. "Whatever you come to know today, please know that I love you and that I am sorry."

"Mom?" But before she or Mebuki could say anything else, Neko, Hinata and Sakura vanished in the typical fashion of the Shunshin.

* * *

A heavy sigh escaped Hiruzen as he regarded the mountains of paperwork on his desk. _"Just another one on the endless list of reasons why Naruto had to suffer so much." _His gaze wandered and once it reached the windows behind his desk it fell on the white building in the distance where Naruto was lying. He had been absolutely elated once the head surgeon had told him that his not-really-grandson would survive with almost no physical handicaps. Well… almost can make one hell of a difference. Just like Iruka had said, he had lost his left eye. Hiruzen lifted the folder in his hands so that it obstructed his view and the expression of rage and disgust was quickly squashed by a desperate flicker of hope. Maybe there could result something good from this whole ordeal? "_I will ask him if he wants one of Danzo's Sharingan as a replacement for his lost one." _

At that thought, he faltered. What should he tell him? Should he tell him that the Yondaime Hokage, the one person Naruto idolizes above all else, sealed the Kyuubi inside him to save the same people that tormented Naruto all his life? Should he tell him that the Yondaime was his father? A father he never would get to meet because he had sealed the greatest menace known to the Elemental Nations into his own son? Should he tell him that he housed the very thing that killed his parents?

"_How would I even start? 'Hello, Naruto. I know your life has been horrible and most of that is my fault, but please don't try to kill yourself again.'? Or maybe 'Hello, Naruto. I'm sorry that you lost your eye. Would you forgive me faster if I gave you a really useful replacement?'? How about 'Hello, Naruto. Would you like me to personally train you so you can one day risk your life to protect the same people who have hated you all your life due to no fault of your own?'?" _Hiruzen sobbed at the thought. Did Naruto even want to be Hokage? Or did he just say that to amuse him or to make him proud of him? Did he actually like ramen or was it just the only thing he got to eat short of salvaging food out of dumpsters? What did he even know about the person he saw as his own grandson?

A knock on the door brought Hiruzen out of his musings and he turned his chair around before straightening his back. "Enter."

The door to his office opened and he saw Neko lead Hinata Hyuuga and, to Hiruzen's surprise, Sakura Haruno in front of his desk. "Hinata Hyuuga and Sakura Haruno wished to visit Naruto Uzumaki." And with a nod of her Kage, Neko vanished again in a small cloud of smoke.

Patiently, Hiruzen studied the two girls in front of him in the silence of his office. One, a nervous clan heiress with self doubts and confidence issues who, despite that, decided to forgo all that to check up on a boy she barely knew. The other, a fan-girl with serious self-worth issues who is susceptible to peer pressure and to some degree responsible… Hiruzen stopped that thought right in its track. _"I can't fault her for a situation that has been twelve years in the making. She was just the catalyst..." _

"Why do people call Naruto a demon?"

Hiruzen looked at Sakura surprised. And he wasn't the only one: Hinata and surprisingly Sakura herself seemed just as surprised by her question as he was. _"How am I supposed to answer that? Another lie, just for them to lose faith in me once they find out about it? Another lie of omission? 'I am sorry, but that is a secret? Or..."_

Sakura didn't know why she had asked that. She wanted to know what had happened to Naruto, why no one was allowed to see him, if he tried to… But instead she had asked this. Why?

With a sigh from the Hokage she lifted her eyes off of her feet and looked at the aged man. "Can you tell me when Sasuke-kun's birthday is?"

"Twenty-third of July." The answer had left her mouth before she had any time to think about the question.

With a nod the Hokage continued. "And Ino-chan's?"

Now, Sakura hesitated a bit. That question simply brought way too many happy and conflicting memories to the front of her mind. "Twenty-third of September."

Another nod and another question, this time with a hand gesture towards Hinata. "How about Hinata-chan?"

This time she frowned, both in confusion about these questions and in an effort to remember. "Twenty-seventh of December?" She sounded far less sure now.

With a small smile adorning his face, the Sandaime nodded a third time and leaned back in his chair with a heavy sigh. "And how about Naruto-kun?" All traces of the smile were gone with this question. All that showed on the old man's face was regret now.

And Sakura came up short. She didn't know. She prided herself over her knowledge and remembered basically everything she got her eyes on. She didn't have an eidetic memory but her parents liked to joke about her steel trap of a mind. "I… I don't know. I'm… not his… friend."

Another sigh and this time the girls could see a tear run down his face. "Are you friends with Hinata-chan?"

"I…" Sakura looked to her left where Hinata stood, almost forgotten by her and seemingly ignored in their little game of question and answer, but she didn't seem to mind and instead returned the look Sakura gave her with a silent question of her own. "Not really… no."

Hinata didn't seem either hurt or surprised by her answer which, in turn, hurt and surprised Sakura more than she thought it would. "Then how come you know her birthday? Did she tell you? Did she invite you to a celebration?"

"I…" Sakura stopped again. It was both embarrassing and a point of pride for her. "I am rather observant. I try to take in every detail I can come across and on her… birthday… when she opens her bento she always has a bright smile on her face. I thought… maybe someone she cares about put something she really likes in it every year on her birthday."

The Hokage and even Hinata looked impressed at that admission and Sakura allowed herself a small but proud smile. But that vanished just as fast as it had appeared with the next question. "And what do you know about Naruto-kun?"

"He…"

But before she could really start, the Hokage stopped her with a hand gesture of his. "And I am talking about what **you **know. Not what the villagers say, not what the rumors claim. I want to hear what you **know **about Naruto Uzumaki."

"He is…" But Sakura stopped. _"… an idiot."_

"He likes…" She stopped again. _"… ramen and pranking?"_

"He wants…" This time she faltered. _"… to be Hokage? Does he? Really?"_

She shuddered at the memory of the empty, defeated look he gave her the day before. "He is… always alone. In class the teachers and we students either ridicule or ignore him. I have seen him get thrown out by teachers for reasons like 'disturbing the class' when he was doing nothing only for us to be told about stuff we need to know for the exams afterwards. He likes..."

Sakura took a deep, shuddering breath before continuing. "He says his favorite food is ramen but sometimes… he sometimes had a look on his face when he saw us take out our bentos as if having one of those was the greatest wish of his life. He… I haven't seen him during recess for more than three years since the last time I saw that look on his face." Had she looked up at that moment she would have seen the hands of the Hokage trembling. He seemed to restrict himself from lashing out at something but out of anger or sadness, he himself wouldn't have been able to tell. Probably a mixture of the both. But she did not look up and therefore did not notice what kind of effect her words were having on the aged man. Hinata did though.

"Naruto wants…" But this time her voice betrayed her. She was once more reminded of her nightmare and couldn't help but voice his words out loud. "All he ever wanted was a friend. One friend, who would make all the pain bearable… He is lonely… I don't think there is even one person that he can call a friend and…"

Her legs buckled and she fell to her knees as the scene of her nightmare evoked another memory. One much older, a living nightmare that had, for one short moment, turned into a dream come true: He had saved her. He had seen Ami and the others harass her and had stopped them. He had complimented her and helped her up from the ground and his smile had been so radiant. And then her mother had taken her by her hand and pulled her away and told her not to go near that boy.

"He… he saved me. I was being bullied and he saved me." Her tears were now streaming out of her eyes and obstructed her view as she stared at the floor. Her sobbing was too heavy for her to hear the light gasp originating from Hinata at that revelation. "And I…" Sakura coughed. "And I have beaten and ridiculed him again and again because… because it was easier..." Her voice was only a whisper between her soft sobs.

With a heavy sigh, Hiruzen rose out of his chair, walked around his desk and helped Sakura with tender care towards the couch opposite of the portraits of the Hokage and the private collection of books and scrolls of the Hokage.

"A-ano, H-Hokage-sama..." The Sandaime turned around to look at Hinata who was fiddling nervously with her fingers while her eyes were steadily directed at the floor. "W-what does a-all this have to do with H-Haruno-san's question?"

In a moment of forced bravery, Hinata chanced a glance at the village leader, only to see an expression on his face she would never had associated with a man so powerful: Uncertainty. So shocked was she, she even forgot to avert her eyes which resulted in her seeing another emotion, this time resignation, flicker over his face. With a sigh, the old man sat down next to Sakura and patted the couch to his left, motioning Hinata to sit down as well, before he took off his hat and placed it on his lap. "Naruto-kun's birthday is the tenth of October." Another sigh escaped his throat breaking the confused silence. "He turned twelve yesterday." This time, the gasp that came from his right told him that Sakura had at least made some kind of connection. "What are your thoughts about this, Sakura-chan?"

Sakura's thoughts were running a mile a minute, coming up with dozens of small remarks she had heard that mixed with what she knew and formed into one scenario that explained all of them. "He is the reincarnation of the Kyuubi no Kitsune…"

Another shocked gasp was heard in the otherwise silent office before the Hokage let out a contemplating hum and stood again, which confused Sakura again. If her conclusion had been right, the Sandaime would have said so, therefore she had to be wrong. But all the information she had said that she was right: Naruto, being born on the day the Kyuubi had been killed, could very well be its reincarnation. But he didn't act like a demon. He was pretty much the furthest away from being a demon she could imagine. _"The village calling him a demon is pretty unfair though. He obviously doesn't remember anything! I mean… if he was a demon..." _Again she saw before her so many times she belittled him and beat him up which caused a few more tears to fall. _"__If he was a demon he would never have let me treat him like that." _

"H-Hokage-sama?" Sakura was pulled out of her thoughts by the blue-haired girl sitting next to her. "Is Sakura-san right? Is Naruto-kun the reincarnation of the Kyuubi?"

Both girls saw the Hokage halt in his rummaging through his desk and look at them. "Would it really matter even if he was?" That comment stopped all their silent doubts instantly while the man seemingly found what he was looking for and walked around the table back to them where he remained standing in front of the couch this time. "What can you tell me about the Kyuubi no Kitsune, Hinata-chan?"

"N-Nani?" The surprise of suddenly being asked a question was plain for everyone to see in the room. "A-Ano… it a-attacked twelve years ago. The Y-Yondaime fought against it... a-and d-died killing it."

The Hokage looked at the girls before nodding slowly and walking over towards a katana displayed on the wall next to the double door of his office. "Tell me: How do you kill a being of pure chakra and malice that dwarfs the Hokage Monument in a ratio of three-to-one?"

The girls eyes went wide at that revelation and Sakura had to admit that a bit irrational fear had to be accepted in relation to such a monstrosity. She and Hinata tore their gazes off of the Hokage and looked at each other, shivering simultaneously at the mere thought of the Kyuubi. Therefore, the two didn't see how the Sandaime took the sword from its stand and walked back to them. "Sakura-chan, Hinata-chan…" The both of them turned again and looked in surprise at the Hokage who was now sitting on the floor in front of them, a scroll with a complicated pattern spread out in front of him and with the katana from the display lying at his side. He pointed with a hand at the scroll once he had their attention. "Can you tell me what this is?"

Sakura had to begrudgingly shake her head in the negative. She didn't like when she didn't know something. Contrary to that, Hinata nodded slowly and spoke up after an encouraging look from the old man in front of them. "Ano… i-it's a sealing s-scroll."

With a sigh, the Sandaime nodded and took the katana into his hands to present it to the girls. "This sword was the weapon that took my father's life. It's displayed here in my office to remind me of one simple truth: Life is finite. Even more so in our line of profession." Sakura only stared wide-eyed at the sword in front of them while Hinata only nodded slowly. After that the Hokage put the katana onto the sealing scroll and formed the ram-seal with his hands, causing the sword to disappear in a puff of smoke. "Now back to my question: How does one go about killing the Kyuubi no Kitsune?" While he spoke, the Sandaime closed the scroll again and wound a piece of string around it for theatrical purposes. "The answer is simple: You don't. Now tell me, children:" With a resolute scowl on his face, he presented the scroll to the girls in the same manner he did with the sword before. "Was this scroll used to kill my father?"

* * *

_Beep… _

_Beep… _

_Beep… _

The sounds of the machinery was the only thing breaking the silence as three pairs of eyes were locked on the few patches of skin visible on the bandaged face of the boy lying there motionless and covered to his chin with a thick blanket on his bed in the hospital.

One pair was filled with regret, one with tears and disbelief, and one with horror.

"_Naru… Naruto… kun…" _

"On his seventh birthday a mob of villagers got to him and beat him to a pulp before an ANBU patrol could interfere. After that I had to forbid him from leaving his house on his birthday for his own safety." Tears were now rolling down Hiruzen's cheeks, too. "Of course Naruto, being Naruto, ignored me and sneaked out on his eighth birthday. That time they broke both his arms and his left leg before any ANBU could arrive. I knew I had to do something from preventing him to do something like this again so I offered a compromise: He can go to the academy and..."

Hiruzen coughed dryly before he could continue. "… and 'enjoy' school before he has to go back home and not leave until the next day. I even stationed three ANBU nearby to keep him safe…" His voice wavered and before he could lose control of his legs he moved to the left of Naruto's bed were he sat down in the prepared chair and stared at Naruto's closed, remaining eye. "Other children get to spend their birthday with their family, celebrating and having fun, but he… I never even bothered to think about what I would do to him by imprisoning him in his own home on the **one **day he should have the **privilege **to feel like any other child. No… he was safe and that was all that mattered..."

Hinata was crying harder with every word that Hiruzen spoke while Sakura wasn't even listening to him. _"No… no, no, no… this can't be Naruto! Naruto is loud and brash and… and… and can't sit still for more than two minutes! This… this can't be true… this… this has to be a prank! Yes, a prank! That's it! I bet he is just waiting to jump us once we've turned our backs! I bet he is even wearing that orange monstrosity under there… __**but I won't give him the satisfaction, Shan**__**n**__**ar**__**ō!**__"_

Neither Sarutobi nor Hinata noticed when Sakura shifted slightly and grabbed onto the corner of the blanket, but they did notice when she pulled the blanket away from the bed with a resounding "HA!". For a moment, she felt the pleasant feeling of a job well done, after all, she had seen through one of Naruto's stupid pranks! But that feeling stumbled and fell down a dark and endless ravine once her eyes conveyed to her brain what they were seeing: Bandages... so many bandages… And why…? "Why is he so thin?" She felt like her soul was breaking apart piece by piece with every inch of his body she took in. "He is too thin! Why is he so thin!?" Slowly her voice rose from the soft whisper she started in and climbed the decibel ladder in ever greater jumps. "We live in Konoha, one of the richest places in the world! Why does he look like he has been starved his whole life!?"

"Because he has been…" Slowly, Sakura's eyes shifted from Naruto's slim arms to the Sandaime's forlorn face both anger and despair burning in her emerald orbs. The old man was furiously kneading his hands, his eyes fixed on everything and nothing at all. "He never said anything and he never showed it." Finally his eyes locked with Sakura's and her angry retort died in her throat upon seeing the heavy guilt and sorrow in his hazel eyes. "Or maybe he did show it, hoping against hope that we finally notice that something is wrong, but we ignored it because, as you said Sakura-chan, it was easier." A shuddered breath left him as he finally let his head sink. "And frankly, I don't know which of the two would be worse."

"He… he never showed it." Sakura almost jumped in surprise before she remembered that Naruto did in fact have three visitors and turned towards Hinata with an unasked question in her eyes. Not that Hinata saw it. She was far too fixed on the sight before her. "He saved me too, you know? I-it was… three years ago? I was being bullied and then he appeared. He s-started shouting at them, tau-taunted them and lead them a-away." Neither of the girls noticed the almost complete absence of Hinata's characteristic stuttering. Only the Sandaime took notice and filed that thought away for further contemplation at a later date. "But I… I wanted too thank h-him. So many times did I follow him after the academy to talk to him, to th-thank him… I wanted to be his f-friend!" A few heavy sobs disrupted her story and shook her body. She was fighting with her insecurities and cowardice to continue but what did they matter compared to what her crush had to go through? "But… he was NARUTO. He was the one disliked by everyone! He was the one who had nobody! And he was the one who laughed in their faces and showed them that he did not care! HE…!" Sakura and the Hokage were slightly awed at the sight of Hinata Hyuuga bursting out of her shell as she continued to scream Naruto's plight to the heavens. And then she collapsed into herself again with tears streaming down her face. "How… how could I ever measure up to that?" Her voice was barely a whisper now. "He was so… so bright! How… why would he ever want to be friends with someone like me?"

Whatever Sakura or the Sandaime would have answered to that was forgotten with the surge of an oppressive aura pressing down on them, suffocating Hinata and Sakura and causing the Hokage to break out into a savage sweat. And while the girls fell down on their knees gasping for air, Hiruzen zeroed in on Naruto. The feeling was so similar. So similar and yet so different to the one from twelve years ago… Gone was the sensation of palpable hatred and venom dripping malice. This… this felt like burning anger and righteous fury amalgamated into one silent, ethereal scream. The thin, orange-red aura surrounding Naruto only confirmed what he had come to the conclusion of: The Kyuubi was awake and it was not happy.

And then it was over. The aura was gone. The oppressive feeling was gone. And Naruto looked the same as before. With trembling limbs and labored breath both girls struggled to their feet only to look between Naruto and the Hokage in equal measures of fear and concern. Finally it was Sakura who voiced their question. "What just happened?"

Not that the Sandaime had a satisfying answer to give. "I don't know."

* * *

She was… distraught? Was 'distraught' even a fitting description for her situation? Or maybe 'devastated'? Perhaps 'furious'? Or maybe all the above and a whole dictionary worth of adjectives with similar negative connotations more? That would be quite a long list… No, she was distraught.

One moment she was lying in the clearing of her forest, grumbling about low quality seals and trying her hardest not to accidentally kill her only friend and cursing a certain blonde airhead for putting her in this situation, and the next she feels as if someone ripped her out of her own skin. The next thing she knows, she looks down on a patchwork of a myriad of different colors surrounded by a sea of trees. She didn't even have time to work through the fact that she was free and what that meant for her warden before something caught her eye: a person dressed in black, wearing an orange mask with a swirl theme centering around their right eye flashed towards her and then… red. She knew the color, knew the **feeling **of those accursed eyes wrestling with her for the control of her body. She was shocked, just for a second, because she knew those eyes. Those were **Madara's **eyes. But the power behind them was almost laughable. No matter who he was he was an amateur with stolen eyes, trying to control her. Her! She snickered. And then she froze. She was free! She was **outside!**

"**Graaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh!"**

Her scream reverberated through the air, the earth, everything.

Pain.

Loss.

Grief.

**Hatred!**

She lost herself. For that one precious moment, she lost herself. And then she was gone.

…

She awoke to the uncomfortable feeling of cold water seeping through her belly fur and chilling her sensitive paw pads and almost hit her head against the massive iron bars in front of her. She blinked. Iron bars? Where…

And realization hit her again. She was dead… Her warden… no… her friend was dead. Gone was the lush forest where she could spend hours upon hours running, chasing prey, or talking to her friend, listening to her problems, letting her vent, and giving her advice. Kushina was dead.

And this… was her new prison.

"_**Kushina is dead."**_

Her new prison… a sewer…

"_**Kushina is dead!"**_

And she was alone. She could feel it. No memory strings, no rampant thoughts, no deep desires. She was alone in this prison and completely cut off from her warden.

"_**KUSHINA IS DEAD!"**_

Her whole body slammed into the bars separating her from the outside. Her claws cutting deep scars into the bars only for them to repair themselves as fast as they had been damaged. Her teeth digging into the them, tearing the bars apart, only for them to be replaced by new ones. But she didn't stop. She couldn't stop! Her friend was dead! Murdered by a jackass who did Yami knows what with her body in some hair brained attempt to gain power! He was an Uchiha! That was their thing: Power over everything! Therefore, she would get out of here, hunt that fucking tosser down, and tear him a new one so wide that she, in all her enormous glory, could fist him comfortably!

But she couldn't. The seal was tight. No… 'tight' would still imply that you could move to a certain extent. The seal was suffocating! And a sewer! Whose fucking brilliant idea was it to construct this bloody seal in the image of a gods be damned sewer!?

…

Time was non-existing. There was no day/night cycle in a sewer and without a sensory link to her host or at least access to their memory it was impossible to say for certain how much time had passed since she arrived here. Sometimes it felt like years, sometimes like hours. Her rather impressive age didn't exactly help but if you knew what was good for you, you didn't mention that. EVER! She knew that some time ago the water receded until there was barely a puddle left right in front of her cage but again: could have been hours, could have been years.

But then finally, she heard something and her ears shifted forward, picking up the faint sound of steps echoing from the walls. It was a sedate pace. No nervous dragging of their feet, no hurried run to get to her as fast as possible. No… whoever was walking down that dark tunnel in front of her was moving as if they owned the place.

HOW DARE THEY!

She was the Kyuubi no Kitsune! She was the strongest of the Biju! She would not be treated as if she was a pet living in the doghouse!

With barely contained rage she gathered her chakra. **"Yami." **her whisper seemed a bit louder than she had intended because the steps stopped for a moment before they continued, but the technique did have the intended effect because she felt the shadows of her cage gather around her and obscure her from the vision of others. Just because she wasn't able to affect anything outside of her prison didn't mean she couldn't make her new host crap their pants.

A vicious grin crept onto her muzzle as her guest finally stepped out of the darkness of the tunnel and she could barely suppress a growl. **This **was her new warden? This kit!? What was he, ten?! And he was wearing orange! Not just a 'hey, look at me I like orange so I got a new black jacket with orange stripes'-orange, but a full blown 'I have no fashion sense whatsoever, bought myself a white jumpsuit and jumped into a barrel of orange paint because I like to second as a practice target when walking through the woods'-orange! _**"**__**Oh, I'm going to enjoy making you shit yourself, kit." **_

And she couldn't believe it! He had stopped at the entrance for maybe a few seconds before he continued onward towards her cage. No hesitation, no fear. As if he was taking a walk in the park.

Once he was finally close enough she struck: Her paw sped forward and was stopped by the bars at the point where her claws were barely an inch away from his head. But he didn't stumble back, he didn't freak out, and worst of all: He didn't shit his pants. She would have smelt that. Instead, she heard a silent chuckle that was decidedly mirthless and a whispered "Figures..." before her warden shocked her completely by walking around her outstretched paw and **closer **to her before he slumped against one of the massive bars and broke down into silent sobs.

She had no idea what had just happened. By the way he had walked and dressed this kit was supposed to be a cocky, idiotic brat that had no idea how the world worked or what he was dealing with. But his reaction… showed someone with a complete disregard for his own life.

"**Why are you here kit?" **

* * *

When Naruto woke up and saw damp brown and gray walls stretching to both sides of his vision into one big corridor he summarized his situation into one sophisticated and quite fitting phrase: "The hell?" Then again, maybe this was hell. Who was he to judge? "Though I wished I wouldn't have exchanged one hell for another..." was his mumbled afterthought.

He sighed and lifted himself off the ground before he noticed something else and carefully lifted his fingers just slightly under his left eye and blinked repeatedly. He could see… "Huh! Well… that's something at least…"

But what was he supposed to do now? Just standing here wouldn't solve anything. _"At least I don't think so." _So he looked around again to find some markers or anything similar to direct him into a certain direction. On his second and closer inspection of the corridor he had found himself in, he noticed first the thick pipes running along the ceiling, one glowing a weak blue and the other a fierce, ominous orange-red, and then the water marks on the walls roughly on the level of his ankles.

Pipes…

Water…

Damp, drab walls…

A sewer… hell… was a sewer…

He groaned. "Sure! What's next?! Heaven is a candy store I'm not allowed to enter? Well news-flash: That was my life to a 't'!"

Or maybe that was it? As in life so in death? Another sigh escaped his lips as he shook his head. "Well, nothing to it." He looked first left, then right, _"Doesn't really matter anyway, right?" _and then started moving to his right further into the dark sewer, illuminated only by a weak light of an omnipresent but indeterminable source.

As he walked, Naruto was surprised by how calm his thoughts were. No questions of what was going to happen now. Ayame-neechan, Teuchi-jisan, Iruka-niisan, and Hokage-jiji would possibly grieve for him for a while but that would pass. They had to move on. They were way too busy to waste their time like this for too long. Who knows? Maybe now that he was gone, the Ichiraku's business would finally boom and they could finally take a breather now and then? He had always pretended otherwise but he could see the bags under Ayame's eyes and the slightly strained smile on Teuchi's face when his back was acting up again. He wasn't dumb and he wasn't deaf either: He knew what his presence did to them. 'The demon's haven' was not a title that brought lots of customers to a business and if their ramen was any less delicious they would have had to have closed their stand a long time ago. A pang of guilt struck Naruto through his heart. There was a reason other than the fact that both the food and the company were better than he could have ever wished for that he spent most of his allowance at their store, even despite the generous discount they gave him.

Iruka-niisan… well, Naruto liked to think that he was always so overbearing because he cared and maybe, just maybe, he could focus his time now on helping some of the children who actually understood what he was telling them. Naruto had no illusions about his intelligence. He was not dumb by any measure… which was probably the reason he understood that, other than Iruka, every teacher at the academy had tried to sabotage his education. His Taijutsu had more holes in both its defense and its offense than an old practice dummy for Shurikenjutsu and the less said about his theoretical knowledge the better. It wasn't his fault that Iruka's lectures were more sleep-inducing than any narcotic or that he was banned from the library.

And Hokage-jiji… Naruto sighed. _"Calm thoughts, huh?" _He chuckled a bit and was just short of collapsing in hysterical laughter as…

"**Yami." **

A whispered voice… deep and powerful like rumbling thunder but with an elegance to it that seemed more akin to the mumbling and shimmering of a small stream flowing over a bed of rocks through a deep forest. _"Huh… where did __**that**__metaphor__ come from?" _

He shook his head and continued walking a leisurely gait down the hall. No reason to rush into whatever came next anyway.

Though he had to halt again as the corridor opened up without a warning and he stood in a wide hall, his eyes focused on a massive pair of doors made of equally massive bars with a strip of paper with the kanji for 'seal' in the middle, keeping the doors closed.

Unconsciously, his right hand wandered to his stomach. _"I'm not dead…" _And wasn't that a depressing thought.

His hand dropped to his side again and he continued onward. _"Nothing ventured, nothing gained. And who knows: __M__aybe a giant fox is better company than my last neighbors." _Though he had to admit that would not be difficult.

His thoughts were interrupted rather abruptly when a massive red paw with outstretched claws sped towards him and caused him to stop in his wake. For a rather short moment he thought that maybe now he would finally get to catch a break, only for the claw aimed at his head to stop only inches away from his face. He takes a deep breath. "_Nope." _That simple admission drew a dry chuckle from him as he rolled his eyes. "Figures…" Even in his own mind… or wherever he was… people wanted to kill him.

He took a step aside and continued towards the bars completely disregarding the massive form of red fur and claws that seemingly materialized behind them. But he didn't care. A realization had finally hit him: The Kyuubi had tried to kill him. Which meant that he was really still alive. He had failed. Naruto slumped with his back against one of the bars and slid down to the ground with tears slowly rolling down his cheeks. _"Huh…__ didn't think I still had any left…" _His lips started to tremble and he grit his teeth in a fruitless attempt to stop his tears but he had had enough. He was done. He…

"**Why are you here kit?" **

For a moment he froze in shock and a small silence stretched itself through the chamber before his sobs started again and slowly turned into a chuckle. "Why… why?" Another novelty: He didn't even even think he still had the capacity for so much anger as he felt welling up inside him.

He struggled back on his feet and turned around to give the giant fur ball of a literal home wrecker a piece of his mind but was stopped in his tracks once he wiped the tears out of his eyes. There was no contempt or condescension on the fox's face but only confusion and, dare he say, even a sliver of concern. He didn't even know how he could tell! It was a giant fox! It didn't have the same facial expressions as a human! But he knew… "You don't know… you don't know anything about me… you don't even know my name, do you?"

The Kyuubi shook its head slowly and pointed with one of its nine tails at the seal adorning the cage door. **"****This seal prevents me completely from interacting with you outside of you coming in here and talking with me. ****Otherwise I am trapped inside here without any means of knowing what happens to you." **

Naruto didn't know which was weirder: Having a conversation with the Kyuubi or that said walking natural catastrophe was acting more civilized than most of the people he ever had contact with. He tried. He really tried, but he couldn't. He started laughing. The kind of hysterical laughter one does when one doesn't know what else to do.

He didn't know how long that lasted but at the end he was crying again. **"Are you done?"**

"Sorry…" His voice was hoarse and he wasn't even sure if it was loud enough for the Kyuubi to hear. He cleared his throat. "Sorry." he said again, this time a bit more forceful. Then another weak chuckle escaped him which he stopped with a snort. "I just… You've been locked in here for the last twelve years, with no one to talk to, nothing to do, and nowhere to go… and I just… I don't really know who between us has had the worse last twelve years of our life…"

And suddenly, the Kyuubi seemed bewildered. Naruto had no idea why, or how he could tell again, but that was what he got from it. **"****I usually don't have to repeat myself but: 'Why are you here, kit?'" **

Naruto stared into its glowing, blood red eyes as it towered over him like a fox over an ant. _"Should I…" _He had heard that baring your soul to someone was supposed to help._ "Not sure that that saying included giant demon foxes but…" _Not that he had anyone else he could do this with. At that thought another few tears pushed themselves through his tear ducts. Therefore he sat back against the bars again and closed his eyes. "I tried to die."

* * *

She didn't really know what she was expecting of her warden but this was not it. Her warden… her host… tried to kill himself. _**"What kind of whiny little shit is he? Kushina had a hard life! She was basically ostracized by everyone and had to fight for every bit of recognition she got, just because she wasn't born in Konoha! **__**She grew up in a bloody war! **__**And what was it she did? She fought! She fought teeth and claws against everyone who made fun of her or stood in her way! So where do**__**es he**__** get the right to just give up, huh?" **_She knew jinchuriki didn't have easy lives but this coward of a host was just sickening.

"**You know, you don't have to tell me anything, right? You can****just allow me access to your memories and you don't have to relive them again." **She had to say, she was proud of herself for putting so much concern into her voice and preventing herself from growling or snarling at the 'woe-is-me'-little piece of refuse. And if he was really dumb enough to allow that? Oh, she was going to rip into his soul with every dark little secret she found.

"Sure." She was taken aback again at his complete nonchalance he faced this situation with. But then he hesitated. "How do I do that?"

This time she really had to fight to stop her eyes from reflexively rolling out of their sockets. _**"So he's not just dumb, he is an idiot." **_On the outside she simply tilted her head to the left in a slight bit of confusion. **"You just… will it. This is your mind. What you want goes." **She closed her eyes and leaned back a bit. _**"Now show me everything you got!" **_

A moment later she got her wish. And boy did she wish she hadn't.

"_Why do I have to be alone?" _

_I am staring through the 'window' of my 'room' out into the back yard, watching the other children play. This time she told me that I was showing signs of a virus and that I am not allowed outside for the month until they can be sure that I cannot spread it. _

"_Wonder what they are going to say next month?" _

Her head snapped to the right.

"_Now you listen here, you little demon: You are going to tell Hokage-sama that this is your room or there won't be any food for you for the next week! Do you understand?" _

_I nod as fast as I can. I am already hungry. I won't make it another week without food. I shouldn't have defended myself when those kids came into my room to beat me up… again. At least the window here is not broken._

This time her head snapped to the left.

"_Five years is old enough for something like you to live on your own!" I don't like it when she smiles at me like that. "Happy birthday." _

_The door slams shut. I can hear the bolt snapping into place. The rain is cold. And I am **not **crying! _

"_All I asked was if I was allowed to spend some time with the others today…" _

A soft whine escapes her throat.

"_300 Ryo for one apple?" I try to sound as brave as I can. _

_She looks at me as if I had strangled her dog. "Pay up and leave or leave it and scram. I don't have to sell you anything!" _

_I keep myself from wincing and give her the money. That's a fifth of my weekly allowance gone, just like that. I don't cry. I can do that once I'm home. _

Her eyes snap open wide.

_The door is broken… again. I step through and wonder what they did this time. The chairs and table are smashed, the tap in the small kitchen is bent out of shape. The door to the bathroom does not look much better than the entrance door. Neither does the one to the bedroom. My mattress_ _has been sliced open and the already thin blanket lies now in tatters. And __**"You should have died years ago!" **__was painted over the head of __my__ bed. _

_A chocked laughter escapes my throat and wet chuckles accompany my tears. "Well… at least I can read, am I right?" But there is no one to respond to that. More tears flow. _

She lowered her head and her hackles rose as a deep, threatening growl reverberated through her prison.

"_Oh, please! Your parents used the Kyuubi attack to ditch you at the orphanage and left you here, and now we have to put up with you!"_

"_That's not true!" _

_But she has that smile on her face. I hate that smile! I give her my best glare and turn around. I have to walk. Slowly. Anything else would give her too much satisfaction. _

_She is wrong! She has to be wrong! She can't be right. _

… _can she? _

Those, worse, and slightly less bad memories bombarded her in a matter of minutes. _**"He… but… they… he is their **__**SON! HER son! He **__**is**__** a CHILD! How could they… HOW DARE THEY!" **_She didn't even notice as her anger caused her prison to tremble.

She felt tears… she was the Kyuubi no Kitsune and she felt her tears threatening to fall. And he just sat there, leaning against her cage and trying not to feel anything: Her warden. A chi… a young man who entered hell with his birth and never found a way out, with no one to confide in, no one to bear his tears, no one to share his pain… and no one to help him stand up again after any of the countless beat downs he had to suffer. She couldn't help herself. It wasn't even a conscious decision. She began to shrink.

* * *

"Someone interfered."

The full, smooth voice echoed trough a realm in turmoil. Mountains near and far shattered under the pressure of the slightest breeze. The clear waters of rivers and lakes were aflame with deep burgundy fire.

"He is no more than a single step away from breaking completely."

This voice, normally elegant and soothing, quivered slightly in sorrow as the stars stood bright ablaze upon the frozen dusk of the sky and the sun floated around the full moon, wavering this way and that, trying to collide with the offending ball of stone that dared to claim control over it.

"So what are you going to do about it?"

The timeless voice made the two halt and think for a moment before the two averted their eyes from the observation sphere situated in the middle of the madness their agitated emotions were causing.

The one figure, clad in garments made of flowing water, with skin the darkest brown of the earth, hair floating in the ethereal presence of solid wind, and eyes burning in all the colors a flame can take, turned around to eye the shapeless, misty origin of the incorporeal voice. "What do you mean?"

The other figure, their skin glowing in the purest white, ever-changing shades covering their body, and eyes burning with the intensity of stars, whirled around and stared at the elemental entity with a rage that had completely washed away their sadness. "Are you daft? Did you not hear what I said? He!" The figure pointed at the sphere again to show a cowering Naruto now leaning against the bars in the seal. "Is! Breaking! Apart!" They accentuated every exclamation with a sharp finger stab into the other entity's chest. "Our CHAMPION tried to commit SUICIDE!"

The mountains reassembled themselves only to be obliterated by lightning strikes this time. "And what do you want to do?!" Their voice was like the mix between rolling thunder and crumbling boulders. "Sarutobi already killed Danzo! The Haruno and Hyuuga girls will be his friends and he can reclaim his place in the weave of fate! And NOW you want to interfere?!"

The sound of the bitch slap they received after that dwarfed any sound made by entity or elements. "I wanted to interfere the moment fate was altered!" Their trembling hand shook in both fury and pain. " But NO: 'We are not to interfere in mortal business! What is done is done! Their interference was not severe enough to justify our involvement!' Now look at this!" They grabbed the elemental entity at the back of their head and basically shoved them head first into the sphere. "Look at this and tell me you were right! We could have avoided this! A moderate person's opinion here, an encouragement there, and this would never have taken place! Now you tell me you stickler for rules: Can you solve this mess with just a few words?"

Silence.

Utter and complete silence.

Confronted with the rage of the mother of light, darkness, and emotions, the elements decided to better not agitate her any further.

"I rephrase my question." Yami let go of Kami and turned around to the Sands of Time while Kami needed a few more seconds to gather himself. "How do you plan to solve this problem?"

* * *

Naruto wasn't sure why he had done this. Why show an evil entity sealed in a seal on his stomach every single second of his life? Would the Kyuubi pity him? Make fun of him? Torture him with a never-ending nightmare of the worst points of his life? _"Would it even care?"_ It WAS nature's wrath incarnate. _"Probably not..." _Maybe he just wanted someone to know before he was gone. To remember him. To know that he existed at one point, sometime, somewhere.

He was lost so deep in thought that he didn't even notice the bar he was leaning against moving. Or better: shrinking. What shook him out of his musing was a foreign feeling winding around his chest: Tentative, almost scared movement wound itself around his chest, pressing him just that tiny amount stronger against the bar...s.

His eyes slowly drifted down and to his surprise saw a pair of delicate, dark caramel colored arms winding around… no… **hugging **him from behind.

Naruto turned his head and the first thing he noticed was the absence of the giant bars imprisoning the Kyuubi inside his… mind. And he still wasn't sure if he was happy about his mind being a sewer. But where there was a giant cage before was now nothing more but solid stone. Out of the corner of his eye he could see what seemed like regular sized prison bars but that was everything he got before the arms pressed a bit stronger against him and him a bit stronger against the bars. Not to the point that it hurt but neither lax enough for him to turn further around if he wanted to.

"I'm sorry..."

A shock ran through his system as he tried to comprehend what just happened: The voice was soft, sweet, almost a whisper and decidedly female. "… what for?"

"For everything."

Another shock. **Her **voice was trembling. And he had no idea what to do. "Even for the stuff you didn't do or cause?"

"But I **caused **everything!"

Naruto continued to stare to the side. It was a kind of instinctual agreement between them: He didn't try to look at her and she didn't have to kill him for seeing her cry. "Did you ask them to treat me like they did?"

"NO!"

He nodded. "Did you ask to be sealed inside me?"

"No."

He nodded again. And suddenly something no longer made sense. Something gnawing at the back of his mind. "Did you attack Konoha because you wanted to?"

"… no."

"Then why do you want to apologize for something that was never your fault?"

This time she didn't answer. Instead, she tightened her hug a bit more.

Slowly, he lifted his arms and laid them on hers, marveling at the warmth that seemed to fill his being by this simple gesture. Again, tears rolled down his cheeks but this time his wide smile was not a mask. "Thank you."

A bit more reassuring pressure was his only answer but it was enough.

But then he stiffened.

Because out of nowhere a dark blue box appeared in front of him.

"Kyuubi?"

There was a pause of hesitance before a rather stunned voice answered with a simple "Yes?"

"Are you doing this?"

Another pause. "No." Then he could feel a wave of chakra flow through him, originating from her arms. "No genjutsu either."

"So…" He lifted his left arm, his pointer stretched out, but stopped right in front of the box. "What do you think?"

"It's not my decision to make." But a reassuring bit more pressure told him everything he needed to know.

**Do you want to play a Game?**

Yes No

**Yes**


	2. Chapter 2 - It's dangerous to go alone,

**A/N:**

**WOW! Just… wow! The positive reception this story got is mind blowing! Thanks for the reviews! **

**Cole BloodRose: **First of, I have no idea what you mean with "Star Platinum and the World". I get the gist of it but if you could explain what you meant by that I would be very thankful. And second: I wanted to write a compelling story that deviated from most of the "Gamer" fan fictions I have read so far. I also really loved _Naruto One Man Team _by 'Ackdam' and _Outfoxed _by 'hazeleyes180'. Great stories and I liked what they did with their versions of Naruto. Read them, even if they both are no longer up to date. But back to the point: I wanted to write about a version of Naruto with a decidedly darker background than in the original story but didn't want to go to the extreme _Naruto One Man Team _did. On the other hand I thought about what would happen to such a Naruto who never got any noteworthy external help until he was older. The sum of things painted a rather depressing picture but hey: when you're at the bottom the only way to go is up. ;-)

**SaujanaTwo: **I'm not planning on doing any conscious or continuous bashing. Only if the opportunity presents itself and it would not disrupt the flow or spirit of my story. Also: Naruto will NOT be a Gary Sue. He will work for what he wants and won't get any unreasonable power ups. I am quite aware that a too powerful main character in a story (outside of parodies) only corrodes the story itself. There is no thrill in reading about Naruto who discards people like Orochimaru or Hidan like they are nothing.

**Kuman: **Thanks for the lengthy review. I am not going to rush the Romance. We are talking about a Naruto with no friends to call his own and with self-worth issues the size of the Hokage-Monument. He doesn't believe that **anybody **would ever love him. Rushing into romance situations would completely discredit everything I have written so far.

Why I included the entities: I found it quite ironic to write about me as the perpetrator of the case. **I **was the one who interfered with fate and therefore the gods **in **the world I have altered have to intervene, basically giving me a reason to continue writing the story to straighten out the mess I've made. And also: who better to administer the mother of all bitch slaps than the mother of all creation? I am aware that I have taken liberties with the entities but hey: it's my story. :-D

As for the last: Kyuubi has seen **everything **of Naruto's life. Not just the stuff he consciously remembers but the unconscious stuff as well. Plus, she already conceded the fact that someone who lived Naruto's life, no matter how old they are, is no longer a child. I know it was subtle but it was there.

**BJJF691: **Maybe.

**Reader of Harry Potter: **Personally, I really like Fu but I am not too sure about Yugito. I must confess I have mainly read the manga and neither have much screen time there. But I know Fu from many other fanfics and I like what I have read. Yugito… maybe. I'll have to see and you'll have to read. :-)

**Steel: **First, Spoilers. :-)

Second, in canon he only has one godparent and that is Jiraiya. I don't believe Tsunade would have just stayed away if she had a familial responsibility in Konoha. Family is **everything **to Tsunade. As for them rushing back: how is Sarutobi supposed to contact them? Tsunade's been away for more than a decade and Jiraiya is a spy master who is always on the move and submits his reports via his summons. Anyway, thanks for the review and the interest in my story.

**Dragon Man 180: **I've got my plans for Sakura so I hope you are not going to be disappointed with what I've got in store for her. As for the other comment: wait and see. ;-D

**TheCyanPrince: **I've got plans. :-D Suffice it to say that this is not going to be your run-of-the-mill Gamer fanfiction.

**Raveraque:** I don't know if this sounds wrong but I'm happy that I could cause such an emotional reaction with my story. It tells me that I did something right with this story. Or something horribly wrong. :-D

**Riot Bringer: **Yes, compared to Naruto's life in this story my life has been basically smooth sailing ahead as well. Doesn't mean I don't have problems but it puts everything a bit into perspective, doesn't it? Anyway, I'm touched that my story caused such a strong reaction within you and hope your prayers have been answered. ;-)

**Inritus: **While I'm not too sure about the whole psychopath/sociopath thing, I think Naruto was a bit too naive and airheaded in the original. At least for someone who lived his life. But I agree that he was a lousy father, something that I can really only just wrap my mind around. A Family of his own was the one thing he wanted for years and then he half abandons his family and drowns himself in work. He uses even shadow clones to visit his family! Why not have the shadow clones do the work while he goes there personally? And why does it take him so long to get done with paperwork? He is able to literally summon an army of shadow clones! What's so difficult about summoning four or five clones to help cut down the time he sits behind his desk? Diplomatic missions I can understand, but not the monotone day to day work. Sorry for raving but that's something that's bothered me for years. Thanks for the review.

**To everyone else: **Sorry to answer your reviews in what basically comes down to a generic 'thank-you-card' but you did not give me any questions or replies that I felt needed a lengthy answer. Despite that, I want to thank you for your reviews, your interest in my story, and your emotional support. Thank you.

And with that: onward to my first second chapter on this site! :-D

* * *

"Hello" – Normal speech

"_Hello" – Normal thoughts_

"**Hello" – Inhuman speech**

"_**Hello" – Inhuman thoughts**_

**Hello – Game Script**

* * *

_**Chapter 2**_

_**It's dangerous to go alone, take this!**_

Naruto waited with bated breath, half expecting to wake up in his bed to find out everything had only been a dream, half expecting for the blue box to blow up and destroy reality itself.

Instead, his choices of answer vanished, replaced by a stylized white hourglass turning repeatedly in an endless loop.

"Huh." Naruto didn't know why but he suddenly felt the urge to call customer service to complain about… something. "Well… that was… something?"

But before the Kyuubi could say anything, the blue box vanished and was replaced by a rapid stream of red boxes.

**Error – Insufficient Data**

**Please stand by…**

**Searching for compatible blueprints… **

These vanished the moment Naruto had read them, replaced by a green box blinking into existance, accompanied by a soft *ping*.

**Matches found – loading…**

This time the box did not vanish and left Naruto simply sitting there, waiting for whatever was going to continue. "Kyuubi?"

For the first time in about five minutes he felt her moving behind him, loosening her grip around him a bit. "Yes, Naruto?"

At the simple mention of his name, Naruto felt a pleasant warmth spreading through his body. _"Naruto…__ not 'demon', not 'brat', no '-baka', not even 'child'…" _He allowed himself to enjoy that moment with a smile on his face. "Is there a reason you don't want me to see you in your… human form?" There was a rather uncomfortable silence before he heard some low mumbling behind him. "I'm sorry, what was that?"

"I'm naked." Her voice was tiny and if he was very brave Naruto would even say that he heard a distinct amount of embarrassment there too. But, as the gentleman he was he didn't point that out. Instead he snorted and tried with everything he had to prevent himself from laughing.

A flick of her finger against his temple shut him up quickly though. "Oi! What gives!?"

"You deserved it!" Was she… pouting? Now he really wanted to see her face!

But instead of acting on that he suppressed his desire and calmed himself down. He had practice with that. "So… why are you naked?"

"… I'm sorry, was I wearing a giant yukata I wasn't aware of? Or something else that seemed like clothing and could magically shrink?"

Naruto wisely suppressed a snort at the thought of the giant, orange-red fox wearing a pink yukata with a rose petal pattern. "But… you're a giant mass of chakra! Can't you just make one out of chakra?"

There was a pause in which she didn't answer. Then she let go of him. Naruto almost teared up again at the loss of her touch. The moment didn't last long though, because he could suddenly feel her hands on both sides of his head. With a sigh he leaned into her touch but was shocked into silence when she carefully bobbed his head back and against her prison's bars. "Think, Naruto. I am a giant, **solid **mass of chakra. Can you turn your skin into clothing? Or your heart?"

He blinked rapidly. She had reprimanded him. And not with a lecture or with pain, but with just the right amount of physical action to shock him into stopping his way of thought. And she was gentle about it! She didn't tell him off for not knowing! Instead she gave him clues and facts so he could think for himself. It felt awesome! He blinked again. "And what about this being my mind?"

She hummed in appreciation. "Take your question apart and think things through, Naruto." He closed his eyes and a few tears escaped his eye lids. She sounded **proud**! Of him! What began as a small smile grew into an almost impossibly wide grin. A shudder ran through him. It felt **good**! "Naruto?"

Her voice pulled him back into the here and now and with a few deep breaths he concentrated on his task again. They were in his mind. And she had said '**This is your mind. What you want, goes.**' _"My mind." _That was it! "This is my mind, not yours. You… you are imprisoned here. You can use chakra… but only inside your prison. And the seal… the seal is supposed to protect me from you. You can't leave… and you can't harm me. You can't use any of your powers outside of your cage. And because this is **my **mind I guess the seal prevents you from influencing it with your own?"

A soft giggle sounded from behind him and her hands slipped down his head, pushed his back a bit straighter against the bars and enveloped him in another hug. "Question or statement?"

Naruto reveled in the sensation of her warm hands gently hugging him as much as her prison allowed before he answered. "Statement."

But before she could answer him, a soft 'ping' sounded and caused him to open his eyes again. To his surprise, the green box was nowhere to be found and in its place was floating a slim, dark blue box.

**For thinking things through and drawing the correct **

**conclusion over a rather complex topic you earned +1 INT**

"… Kyuubi?

"Yes, Naruto?"

"**Was **I correct?"

"… yes."

But the two weren't given any more time to think about the strange statement as an orchestra started playing soft music from somewhere and a blue box, as wide as Naruto was tall, appeared right before their eyes.

**Welcome to the Game**

**Congratulations!**

**You've been given a choice and you chose the fun way out!**

**Your life is now a Game played in reality.**

**Gain Experience Points, Level Up, complete Quests and find ADVENTURE!**

Naruto tilted his head and blinked a few times. "Wha…?" Then there was a shift in music to a rather foreboding tune and the text vanished as the blue box changed hues over violet to a deep red.

**Warning!**

**The Game of Reality is STILL reality!**

**Your actions have consequences!**

**Your words have consequences!**

**And most above all: If you're dead, you're dead.**

**There are no save points, no resets, and no do-overs!**

Then, a small black box with white letters appeared directly beneath the warning.

**You wouldn't believe how many people we lost **

**before we included that warning. ;-)**

The Kyuubi let out a rather unladylike snort as she read that and Naruto couldn't help but smile at the rather cute sound. He was still waiting for the other shoe to drop but this was nice. Hugs were nice, too. After a moment, the black box disappeared and the red box turned back to blue.

**Achievement unlocked: 'You pushed a button!'**

**Reward: Your life is now a game. Duh!**

Naruto's mouth fell open and the Kyuubi started giggling. It took almost a minute before he was able to form a thought again. "Is it supposed to be so…" He drifted off, searching for the correct word.

"… sassy?" Luckily, he had a seemingly nice fox lady… girl… woman… THE KYUUBI, who was actually sounding quite cute, to help him out. Kind of.

"… Yeah?"

But before she could answer him she was again interrupted, this time by a fanfare, and the blue box vanished to be replaced by a golden one.

**Achievement unlocked: 'You Lucky Bastard!'**

**Somebody up there seems to have taken a liking to you.**

**Reward: A Choice**

When he read the second line, Naruto was about to jump up and literally start cursing the heavens, but before he was even able to get his foot under his body the world around him exploded in a white light and he fell back.

* * *

The Kyuubi grumbled with closed eyes a few choice curses, waiting for the white blots to vanish into the blackness of her eyelids. There were sensations she needed to check up on. Sensations like the feeling of silk hugging her body or the slight weight resting on her thighs.

"Megami…" The soft whisper that reached her ears was a mixture of shock and awe and… originated from her lap.

With that, her curiosity won over her patience and she blinked a few times before looking down and finding out that the weight pressing down on her thighs was actually Naruto's head and that the young man was staring at her with wide eyes and a slight blush on his face. The next thing for her to notice was that she was indeed no longer naked. Instead she was wearing a very high quality, crimson yukata with tiny, orange foxes as a pattern. But before she could wonder over how someone fitted her into something like this in the time span of a second, his comment finally registered. _"__A 'goddess', huh?" _

A smile found its way through the confusion on her face and with a giggle one of her tails moved from behind her to 'boop' him on the nose with its tip. "That's a nice compliment Naruto but I am still just little old me~." she singsonged.

It was cute to watch Naruto trying to look unaffected by her teasing and squirming in embarrassment at the same time. But his squirming did pull her eyes towards the ground she was kneeling on and consequently to her surroundings, if one could call them as such. They were either in an endless, white expanse or in a room with a white floor, a white ceiling, white walls, and no discernible edges. At least that was until she noticed that exact same fact. Then, as if a thick, white mist started to recede, things came into existence: A light gray cobblestone floor stretched as far as one could see, only interrupted by pillars now and again, made from a slick, almost snow white stone, that reached up to… up to…

She was already craning her neck uncomfortably and she still could not see where those pillars ended. What she noticed was the deep blue night sky, unmarred by clouds. _"__No roof..." _Her eyes followed the pillars down again and to her sides. _"No walls, either. Huh..." _Instead, she only saw more floor and pillars. A shudder ran down her back. She felt small. _"I don't like this." _

"Where are we?" Naruto's question shook her out of her musing but before she could answer, a box interrupted her. Again. It was the black one this time.

**Welcome to the Hall of Heroes!**

Naruto's slightly confused "Huh..." at its appearance was easily drowned by her, rather canine, growl. "Would you stop intruding on our conversations!? It's impolite and also really annoying!"

…

**Bitch, please…**

You could **read** the smug.

"I'M A VIXEN YOU COCKSUCKER!"

Naruto was stunned into silence as the, from his point of view, upside-down girl screamed at a floating text box and actual flames spit out of her mouth. A few of her tails also tried to hit the source of her annoyance but to her great…-er annoyance… they simply phased right through it.

It started as a small rumble in his lower abdomen but it soon fought its way up to his lungs where it gathered reinforcements. And lastly it reached its destination: His throat. He couldn't help himself.

His chuckle was at first nothing more than a whisper but it soon rose to a level where even she, in her agitated state of mind, noticed that something was happening and stopped all her attempts at retribution to look down at her lap again. Her confused look and her cutely tilted head pushed him over the edge. His laughter echoed between and along the pillars for minutes until his throat was sore, the tears that had been pushed out of his eyes had dried on his cheeks, and he slumped powerless back into her lap. Now he just seemed… spent. Empty. As if there was nothing left, either in him or for him.

It was not just his face either. It was as if his whole body had just had… enough. He had tried and tried. For years and years he had tried and fought and failed and tried again. But four people with barely any free time as it is are not enough when fifty thousand people want to see you dead and sixty thousand people couldn't care less if you live or die.

She bit back another growl. "_How could they?" _She traced his whisker-like birthmarks with the finger tips of her left hand, slowly and carefully, as if she was afraid he would break with her slightest touch. _"__He has done nothing wrong." _

He closed his eyes and leaned into her touch as his breathing evened out more and more until it was so peaceful that he could have just as well been mistaken to be asleep. "So..." He started and opened his eyes. Or better: eye. She shuddered as right in front of her an angry red slice appeared on his face, cutting diagonally through his left eye and stopping just above his first whisker mark. "What now, Megami-chan?"

But she couldn't answer.

The realization had hit her like a ton of bricks: He had accepted it. He had not just remembered that he lost his eye, he had accepted it. Just like that. As if it was nothing more than just another day in the life of Naruto Uzumaki. The tears had been building up since the wound had appeared but now they were starting to fall. Because it was just that: Another day in the life of Naruto Uzumaki. Things didn't stay the same. No, there was always something worse that could and would happen. This time it just so happened that he lost an eye.

"How?"

But Naruto simply cocked an eyebrow at her.

"How can you not be angry? How can you not hate them? How can you not thirst for revenge when everyone else would have been lost in it for years and for far less?" And now the first tear of many landed on Naruto's forehead. "I lost my family. I lost my only friend! I had enough. All I cared about was revenge and then I lost my freedom as well! For the last twelve years I could think of nothing else but escaping the seal and torturing the bastard who killed my friend to the point where they begged for death and then I would keep them alive for as long as humanly possible! I didn't know who you were and I didn't care! In the entire time that I have been sealed inside you I have been channeling my chakra into the seal, slowly corroding it to the point that I would have been able to speak to you in a few months! Then I would have charmed you into using my chakra. First just the tiniest amount to help you get stronger faster. Then more and more of it, corroding the seal further and further until it finally broke!"

She placed her hand over his left eye, covering the wound, while caressing his right cheek with her other hand. "I would have killed you without a second thought, only to get revenge. I don't even know if the murderer of my friend is still alive! But you… they hate you for no other reason than me being inside you. They crippled your education, they crippled your growth! THEY FORCED YOU TO LIE TO ONE OF THE FEW PEOPLE YOU TRUST! So how…"

Finally, after one last burst of emotion, her tirade came to a stop and her voice was no more than a whisper at this point. "How can you not hate them? How can you not want revenge?"

He was silent for a very long time but finally he reached up and very carefully grasped the wrist of the hand covering his wound. "Because this is what revenge looks like." She blinked a few times waiting for the metaphorical click but he was faster. "A scarred, starved, beaten, **lonely **kid." Before her very eyes his clothes vanished and she had to withhold a gasp: She had seen some of what had happened to him before she shut down the stream of memories but nothing even close to this. His body, which she knew was only able to function because of her, was littered with scars, both long, thin, and clean as well as small, short, and ragged. "My entire life, people have been trying to get revenge on me. At first I didn't know why or even that they were doing so, but it isn't too difficult to figure out when people call me 'Kyuubi-brat' and I have a seal painted on my stomach that only appears when I mold chakra. But the reason didn't matter either. Once I knew the cause, I knew what they were doing. All those people wanted **revenge**. Almost **every **scar I have is there because someone wanted **revenge**."

Naruto let go of her hand and lifted his arm higher. For a moment, his hand hesitated right next to her cheek and his cerulean eye sought her blood red ones for permission but instead of nodding or saying that it was okay, she mirrored him and leaned into his touch. Such a simple gesture and yet she could see a spark of life returning into his eye. She couldn't quite keep her fox ears from twitching in elation. "I promised myself that I would **never **become like them. And even if what they did to me was monstrous, I will not give them the satisfaction of turning into the monster they want me to be to justify their treatment of me!"

She was shocked silent. _"How…" _She blinked a few times. _"How did he… he just … chose?" _She could feel her tails swaying erratically this way and that, mirroring her emotions perfectly, but she was too preoccupied with her thoughts to even notice that. _"He chose not to hate them? To not take revenge? He… he is lying! He has to be lying!"_ Deep down she knew that she was deluding herself but it didn't matter. She narrowed her eyes in an attempt to feel his lie, his deceit, his… determination.

She felt him. All his bottled up anger and darkness. It was suffocating and cruel and painful. Because it was dwarfed by his bottled up joy and light. All the happy emotions he didn't allow himself to feel. They weren't many… In all his life they truly were few and far between and because of that they shone through the darkness with an intensity that was almost blinding. The few meals a year he was able to share with his Jiji, the conversations he had with his Ayame-neechan, the few times his Iruka-niisan would invite him to Ichiraku's to eat together… The little things he got right now and then, his happiness when he managed to learn the **Kawarimi-no-jutsu **or the **Henge-no-jutsu**…Every time he felt real happiness he bottled it up and hid it away in fear of people noticing what was real and what was fake. He was a mess of emotional turmoil but what hit her the hardest was still the fact that he hadn't lied to her. He didn't hate them! He… pitied them.

In their pursuit to kill a monster they had become monsters.

They sat there like this for a perceived eternity staring into each others souls before she let go of his head, grabbed him under his arms and pulled him up to her, setting him with his back against her chest and hugged him as close as she could.

She could feel him shiver and tremble in her arms. "Stop…" But neither his whispered plea nor his tears falling on her arms made her move. "Please… things like… hugs… don't happen to me… it feels too nice… please…" He squirmed slightly in her arms but again she didn't let go. "If you don't stop… I'm going to want more. Please… stop…"

She only hugged him closer to herself. "You listen to me, Naruto." He stopped squirming instantly. Her voice was calm and her whisper tickling his ear. "You don't deserve any of these scars. You never deserved anything this village forced onto you. You deserve to be happy. You deserve to be **hugged**." Her body shuddered at the thought of what she was about to do. **"Hear my words and hear my will:" **A shiver ran through his spine as her whisper reverberated through the endless plain of what the box called the Hall of Heroes. **"Before the world and the gods I proclaim my new name: Megami Kurama. Now listen to my pledge! Where there once were two paths, now there remains one. Our enemies we shall fight together. Our prey we shall hunt together. Our wounds we shall ****mend together. Where you are, I am as well. Where I am, you are as well. My life is yours as your life is mine. From this day forth I swear to you that I will always be with you, and if not in body, then in spirit. This, I promise by the name you have gifted me with." **

Then… there was silence. All Naruto was able to do was stare in front of him with a tear filled eye, his mouth slightly open, unable to utter a single sound. Until the tension in his body subsided and he slumped back boneless into her embrace. "Thank you…" Slowly his arms rose to hers and latched onto hers as if they were his life line. "Thank you… thank you, thank you, thank you…" A whisper was all she heard and all he trusted his throat to utter but it was enough. There was no need to say anything else.

* * *

He neither knew nor cared how long they sat there like this, her cradling his limp body and he reveling in the longest and warmest contact with another person he had had in his short life. He just knew that he was addicted to this feeling of acceptance and protection. This was without a doubt the best moment of his life.

The *ping* that broke the silence elicited a sigh from him before he lifted his eye to see what… whoever was writing in those boxes wanted from him this time.

**Quest received!**

**Hidden Quest: Break through the Hatred**

**Find a way to save the Kyuubi from her path of a self-fulfilling prophecy.**

**Reward: ?**

Naruto had just enough time time to read what the blue box said before it vanished and was replaced by an orange-red box adorned with elegant golden lines and swirls and with golden script as well to top it off.

**Quest completed!**

**Hidden Quest: Break through the Hatred**

**By proving to Megami that one does not have to answer hatred with hatred and violence with revenge you broke her free from the cycle of hatred that seems to have bound your world for eons.**

**Reward:**

But before he could read any further, the black box appeared again and covered anything following in that line.

**A surprise!**

Naruto felt his face fall into the most deadpan expression he was capable of. "Really? 'A surprise?'"

**Trust me, it'll be much more enjoyable later on. ;-P **

Naruto blinked. Then blinked again. And as the message in the box didn't change even after a third time he simply closed his eye. "Okay." Though that did not last for long as the soft snickering from above him demanded his attention.

So, when his eye opened again he couldn't help but take in her face again. The heart shape of it was attractive, sure, but that was the least of her beautiful features: Her eyes sparkled like deep red rubies and the slit pupils gave her a touch of danger and mystery that no one he had ever met could reach. On her cheeks, which were elevated due to the grin plastered on her face, were the same cute whisker marks he had as well. Her nose was delicate and could have been used as the example for the perfect feminine nose. Her teeth were clean white. Not sparkling, but the next best thing. And her fangs, and yes, she had fangs, gave her that slight animalistic aura that was still this side of attractive. All this was framed by soft waves of what could just as well be described as solid fire. Her hair shimmered in the omnipresent light of wherever it was they were at the moment with an almost ethereal shine. Or it was just always like that. He had no reference to that. All of that was paired with a caramel skin tone that was almost never seen in, and definitively not native to, Konoha. Konoha's people were… white. Maybe that was their problem… racist bastards!

"So… what has you giggling like a love struck school girl?"

Megami fell silent almost instantly before her eyes narrowed dangerously on him and she flicked his chin with with one of her fingers. "Prat." But it didn't take even a second before her arm was hugging him again and a soft smile was back on her luscious lips. "You are too forgiving."

Naruto stared into her eyes and then let his own eye wander from her over the box to his crotch. "Well…" When he looked at her again he had a cheeky grin on his face. "I don't think my tail is long enough to try and hit the box!"

Her face blanked for a moment before she snorted, lifted one of her hands and leafed the fingers of that hand through his soft, blonde hair. "Touchée."

Another *ping* told them once more that they were not alone and together they averted their eyes once more from each other.

**Can we hurry up a bit? I've got places to be, you know?**

Megami rolled her eyes. "Well, I don't think she's gonna let up anytime soon, so how about we humor her?"

Naruto tilted his head and tried his hardest to ignore how nice the sensation of his head rubbing against her chest felt. "… Her?"

But before she answered, Megami moved out of her seiza onto her feet in one fluid motion, lifting Naruto onto his feet at the same time. "Trust me..." She patted his head as if he was a puppy, a grin as wide as her face accompanying her move. "It's a she." And as he pouted with his arms crossed her grin grew even a bit wider. "Women's intuition."

With a deep intake of breath she stretched, both her arms over her head, as well as her tails that spread in equal distances in nine different directions. When her eyes opened again and she smacked her lips, they were spread again in a satisfied grin when her eyes wandered over Naruto's body, pausing at his chest for a moment. "Soooo… you wanna get dressed again, or are you trying to develop an exhibitionist habit?" The young man was suddenly frozen in embarrassment and blushed slightly before his orange jumpsuit materialized around him again, all the while he kept staring into her eyes. It was a point to ability at visualization that he didn't need to even look to get everything right, no matter how distasteful it looked.

Megami's eyes narrowed slightly at the sight of the unsightly garment and her grin vanished into a light frown. "I know they didn't let you buy anything else but we really need to get you something else to wear." He shared her frown for a second before she sighed and let go of her irritation. There was nothing they could do about that here. "Alright…" She looked straight forward once again. "You brought us here for a reason so why don't we get this over with?"

Instead of a box appearing with instructions to follow, one of the pillars to their left lit up in a soft, golden light that beckoned them to come closer. But before Naruto was even able to take a step forward, one of Megami's tails wrapped itself around his torso. The questioning look on Naruto's face disappeared though once he touched the appendage and changed into an expression of wonder. The tail, as all of her tails, was the same shade of fiery red as her hair, but was tipped with a solid foot length of pure white fur. But it wasn't the color that Naruto marveled at. No, it was the sensation of his hands sinking into the fluffy, silky, and warm mass that left him speechless.

Megami lacked the words to describe what the look of pure wonder and adoration on Naruto's face did to her heart but shook her head to get the feeling out of her mind. "Okay, what are we looking at here?"

To both their shock, there was no box this time. Instead, the sound of a smooth and soothing feminine voice echoed through the open plain, seemingly originating from everywhere at once. **"You are looking at a Pillar of Eternity." **

Warily, Megami looked around before allowing herself a smirk. "So… are text boxes no longer in style?"

"**I don't know." **This time, a decidedly male voice answered. **"It wasn't me writing to you." **

"If you… aren't the ones who brought us here… then who are you?" Naruto asked, clutching Megami's tail to his chest.

"**I never said I wasn't the one who brought you here. I only said I wasn't the one writing to you. As for who I am:" **The female voice was back again, but this time both Megami and Naruto could hear the subtle changes taking place in the voice, changing into the same male voice as before. **"I am the Keeper of Legends."**

Naruto blinked a few times before tilting his head and frowning as the voice did not continue. "Are we going to get a name from you as well?"

A dual-voiced chuckle rumbled through the plain and Naruto had suddenly the uncomfortable feeling of being the butt of a joke… again. But before he could complain the female voice was back. **"I don't have a name. But if 'Keeper of Legends' is too long for you, you may just call me 'Keeper' for short."**

Naruto frowned again and was just about to ask another question, but another tail wrapping itself carefully around his mouth stopped him cold. "We're getting off track here." said Megami as she playfully ruffled his hair. Then, she looked upwards to address the voice. "What is a Pillar of Eternity?"

The Keeper's voice was suddenly all business again and was on the verge of changing back to its male tone. **"You are standing in the Hall of Heroes, the Library of Tales, the Memorial of Legends, and the convergence point of the Multiverse." **Ruby eyes widened in shock and awe at that statement. **"Every people, every world, every galaxy, and every universe has its heroes. Some achieve greatness by helping others, some achieve greatness through ambition, some achieve greatness by flaunting every rule there was and standing up to Fate itself. And then some are completely forgotten by their peers, because they did not strive for greatness at all. A last stand, a sacrifice, a helping hand lent in the time of greatest need but completely ****disregarded in favor of the bigger picture. They may be forgotten by the very same people they gave their life for, but here their life, their deeds, their very **_**essence**_**, is preserved in the Pillars of Eternity." **Naruto's eyes were sparkling with both tears and reverence. Unbidden, a dream resurfaced inside him. A dream he had given up on years ago.** You are standing not in the presence of the mightiest or most famous of heroes there ever were, but the greatest!" **

With a golden flash of light, five pillars around them were suddenly connected by golden lines on the floor in the formation of a five-pointed star with Megami and Naruto at the center and had changed from their uniform, almost blindingly white color to what seemed like pure diamond filled with ethereal lights of different hues. They had to shield their eyes for a bit because the golden light coming from the floor was that intense, but as the glaring intensity ebbed away to a soft glow they were able to take a closer look at the pillars.

The pillar in front of them emitted a soft red glow that seemed to pulsate in rhythm with their heartbeats. The next pillar clockwise glowed with an ominous purple fire that Naruto would bet anything on was cold to the touch. The pillar after that seemed to contain wisps and shades of silvery white fog which seemed to flow slowly within in the crystal structure. The next light seemed almost anathema to the second. Instead of the slow, almost flowing movements of the purple flames, this one was an angry, orange inferno storming and burning in the confines of an almost palpable hue of silver. And while Naruto was sure that the purple one couldn't melt snow even if it wanted to, he was just as sure that this flame would turn the Hokage Monument into a mountain of slag in a matter of minutes. The last pillar, standing left of the first, was more similar to the first than any of the others, if only due to the nature of the light trapped inside. But this light did not pulse, flicker or wade around. It was a steady, almost reassuring bright brown, bordering on golden, light that in its simplistic purity already called to Naruto.

"**I brought you here because you were promised a choice." **Shocked, Naruto looked at the endless, star filled expanse that was the sky, unable to formulate any words. **"These were chosen because of the similarities they share with you. Step near them and I will tell you about them. Everything after that is up to you." **

Naruto only stood there as he continued to stare at the sky. Similarities? With him? How? He only averted his eye when he felt the tail around his torso move and slip away from him. The hollowness that followed the loss of contact was almost too heavy to bear. But when he looked up to ask her why she had done that, he saw nothing but compassion in her eyes before he noticed the black box floating in front of her.

**This next part, he has to do himself.**

With a smile and a nod of her head, Megami motioned him towards the pillar in front of them and with a sense of trepidation he stepped slowly over the golden line which would be between them. But to his relief, the lines did not rise into walls of gold or anything else which would separate them and with a small push courtesy of one of her tails he even managed a small smile before the red, pulsating light of the pillar changed forms.

Naruto rubbed his one good eye, not really trusting his vision, but it did not change the fact that, where the light originated before, there was now a man standing inside the crystal pillar. He was tall, a bit over 1.8m would be Naruto's guess, with deep orange hair and brown eyes. He wore baggy, red pants and a deep red chest plate that seemed to be imbued with strange symbols and seals. His weapon of choice was a red and gold patterned trident with three vicious spikes that he had lazily placed over his shoulders and had his arms resting upon it. The easy going smirk he sent Naruto's way was already doing wonders in calming the blonde boy.

"**Ark, the God of Rebirth and Resurrection." **And suddenly, Naruto had difficulties to keep his remaining eye from popping out of its socket. He had something in common with **who**?

"**He was born a simple boy in a small, isolated village called Crysta. There was pretty much only one rule: 'Don't leave the village'. But there are only so many jobs to do in a self-sustaining village and out of boredom he started to prank people. One day, though, he took it too far and broke into the basement of the village elder out of simple curiosity. What he found and liberated there caused a curse to befall the other people of Crysta except for the elder who sent him on a journey to lift the curse his ignorance had caused. But what started as a simple quest to save his loved ones soon turned out to be more. Much more. The world had been devastated in the war between Light and Darkness and needed help. And he was chosen to provide it. He became a timeless one, always traveling, always fighting. He made continents rise from the depths of the sea, he brought plants and animals back to the barren world and he resurrected humanity. Wherever he went, the world prospered. But only as his task finally neared its end did he return home one final time. In the end he sought redemption above everything else for the mistakes he had committed that started his journey as well as the ones he committed during it." **

Naruto could only look on as the smile of the seemingly young man before him turned somber. "It doesn't sound like he got a happy end..."

The Keeper hesitated for the shortest while. **"No. The powers he wielded and the mistakes he ****made ****demanded their price. He is one of the many heroes whose deeds went forgotten and whose myth ended in obscurity." **

For the longest moment Naruto was silent and wished that Megami was hugging him again but shook that thought out of his head. "Did he know?"

"'**Know' what?"**

Naruto blinked a few tears from his eye. "That everything he did for others would be forgotten."

"**Yes." **

With a frown, Naruto tore his gaze from the pillar and looked towards the sky again. "Then why did he do it?"

A soft chuckle sounded around him, but this time Naruto could tell it was a good-natured one. **"Because he was the only one able to do it. And had he not done what he did then everyone he had come to know would have suffered." **

Finally, Naruto nodded in acceptance and then looked around, unsure of what he was supposed to do next. "What now?"

The Keeper was back sounding male again as it answered. **"Walk back into the center and choose another legend to hear about." **

He nodded again and turned around. With a few small steps he was standing in front of Megami again who was looking down at him with a gracious smile and spread her arms in invitation. Naruto only hesitated for a moment before he slung his arms around her waist and buried his face in her stomach. "This feels really nice." he mumbled after a while, sounding almost half asleep.

"It does, doesn't it?" Megami patted his head gently and finally pushed him away from her. "Come on. You've got a job to do." He reluctantly nodded and turned towards the pillar with the purple flame in it. A few steps later and he was staring at a massive belt buckle stylized like a skull.

It took Naruto a moment to realize what he was seeing before his eyes shifted slowly up the body encased in crystal. "WHAT THE HELL DO I HAVE IN COMMON WITH THAT!?"

Before him stood a human-like figure with pale gray skin and a muscular body so defined that it almost looked sickly. His face was hidden by a blank mask that was definitely made from bone and his hair was raven black. He was not just looking down at Naruto, he was **towering **over him with a height approaching almost 2.4m and the blades of the **scythes **that were hanging from both sides of his belt were as long as Naruto was tall and simply hurt by imagining what the partially jagged edges could do to a body.

"**May I introduce to you the leader of the four Riders of the Apocalypse?" **The chuckle echoing through the hall this time was decidedly both female and mischievous. **"Death." **Naruto's only answer was an audible gulp of air. **"The Shinigami that was summoned to seal Megami Kurama here into your body was this one's subordinate." **It was interesting: He knew it was physically impossible but Naruto could have sworn that he heard Megami's jaw drop to the floor. A few chuckles and one clearing of its throat later, the Keeper continued.

"**Creation had been in balance. Angels resided in the White City in Heaven, Demons dwelt in the deepest depths of Hell, and in between was Humanity living in Paradise. And above all sat the Charred Council, keepers of the balance. But that balance was not meant to last: Nephilim, born from the unholy union between Angels and Demons, appeared. Not really a people, not even a race. They were an _army_ created with only one goal in mind: Destruction. **As the Keeper took their time for a dramatic pause, Naruto couldn't help but feel out of his depths once more. Once more, what he heard came too close to the idea of a conflict between gods and the ludicrous fantasy that **he **of all people had something in common with a being like that. Not that he had overly long to contemplate about that. **"He was one of them. One of thousands, each of them a one-man-army. But he understood what would happen if his brothers and sisters went through with their plan of conquering Paradise, starting their campaign of conquest of Creation. And so, he took his closest siblings and went with them in front of the Charred Council: The names of him and the three that went with him before that were never known. But from that moment on, they were Death, Strife, Fury, and War: The four Riders of the Apocalypse. And ride they did. They were the enforcers of the Charred Council, of the balance. And what threatened the balance became a target for them. **

A shiver ran through Naruto's body at this. "Are you saying…?" The small sigh of the Keeper that followed his unfinished question made him swallow heavily.

"**The term 'conquering' I used to describe the actions and plans of the Nephilim was not accurate and I apologize for that. They wanted to rule, yes, but not over others but in the _exclusion_ of all others. They were a plague, a swarm of destruction that would not have stopped until every Human, every Angel, and every Demon had been eradicated. The first task the Riders were given was the annihilation of their brethren and they complied until the Nephilim were no more and only the Riders remained. In the end, it was a matter of choice between one race or the entirety of creation. If it eases your mind, Death carried that burden wherever he went until the day the Riders rode for the last time." **

Another uneasy swallowing of spit later, Naruto nodded curtly and stepped backwards into the center of the five-pointed star, never taking his eyes off of the plain mask. A shiver ran through him when the back of his head touched something soft and warm arms engulfed him once more in a hug. It was both scary and welcome how easily the tension bled from his body when wrapped in Megami's arms. The relaxing touch slowed his whirling thoughts until he finally remembered that he had never gotten an answer to his question. "What do I have in common with him?" It was strange. He could almost feel the proud smile on Megami's face, without seeing it. Why was she proud? Was she proud of him? But if yes, for what?

"**Loyalty." **Upon noticing his doubtful expression the Keeper did elaborate though. **"While slaughtering his brethren was a necessity and he swore obedience to the Charred Council, he always put the well-being of his brothers and sister before anything else in the eons that followed, one day even turning his back on the council in favor of his brother. In the end, he valued family before anything." **

That brought a smile to his face. And for a reason he did not know, Megami wrapped five of her tails around his body, leaving only his head and feet visible, then turned a bit and pushed him forward towards the crystal with the moving wisps of solid, silver fog. The sight alone made Naruto shiver once more. It seemed lifeless and reminded him way too much of how he imagined ghosts looked like in color and substance.

Another step forward and the fog gave way to an… apparition that Naruto wished he could forget he ever saw. One side of the man in front of him looked normal, rugged and even dare he say attractive. Shoulder long, brown hair, hazel eyes, beard stubble on a strong jaw, clad in dark leather armor, with the hilts of two weapons poking out over his right shoulder. The other half of his body, though, made Naruto almost want to run away. Ghostly, transparent, silver features of a different man with a scarred,wrinkled, almost dried out face. White hair flowing in an ethereal wind, curiously pointy ears, a tiara adorned with some sort of gemstone, and clad in elegant but obviously light armor.

"**Talion, guard captain of the Black Gate, devoted husband, loving father… Wraith, Gravewalker, and in the end… Scourge of Middle Earth." **

The hesitation in the Keeper's voice was plain to hear and Naruto hated that he shivered once more. "I'm not going to like this story, am I?"

For a moment, there was only silence. Then, answering his question without answering his question, the Keeper continued. **"When his station was overrun and his family was executed right in front of his ****eyes**** he took his last breath. But fate can be a cruel thing and his world followed one law that became his demise: A soul filled with hatred and used in a blood ritual is rejected by death. But life was not for him anymore either. He became a being in between and vowed vengeance on the ones responsible for his famil****y'****s death. ****And so, he fought the army of the dark one, killed, assassinated, maimed, poisoned, slaughtered, and decimated the orcs inhabiting Mordor. And occasionally freed slaves kept by his enemies. He did so to gain power for he knew his goal was a ****difficult**** one." **

Naruto, during that whole story, could do nothing but stare in the eyes of the man. Eyes, he realized, that were drowning in regret.

"**Don't misunderstand me, please: He was a good person and the abominations the Dark Lord called his servants did not deserve even an ounce of mercy. But in his rage and struggle for power he became blinded to the effect that power had on him and his dependency on the same. In the end he succumbed, became corrupted by his power and turned into something too sinister to even mention its name." **

With silence once more prevalent in the plain, Naruto nodded and turned around, stepping back into the center piece once more, his eyes on the ground. The last two stories had done quite some damage to the image Naruto had in his head when thinking of the word 'Hero'. Strong beyond belief, righteous, helpful, a symbol of light and hope… these two where everything but. But Talion especially hit him hard. It showed him once more what revenge could and would do to people. Even to heroes.

Slowly, he realized that he was starring at Megami's sandal-clad feet and his eyes wandered the elegant yukata up towards her face which, to his surprise was quite pale with her eyes dull and focused on the crystal behind him. With a frown on his face, Naruto turned around only to see again nothing but the silvery fog. "THAT could have been me?" Her voice was just a whisper and sounded completely wrong to his ears. Gone was the mirth and warmth and instead it was seeped with apprehension and even a bit of fear. As he turned around once more to see a tear run down her cheek, he found a resolve in his heart he had once again thought he had lost at some point in his short life. But he didn't say anything and neither did he hug her. Instead, he took her right hand in both of his and squeezed it gently. The supportive gesture received a soft squeeze in return and it did not take long for Megami to finally avert her eyes from the crystal and look at him. He didn't know what she had seen, and she had to have seen something with that reaction, but he could watch as the haunted look in her eyes vanished and turned into something he was not able to place. He only knew that it was warm. "Thank you." He smiled, squeezed her hand a bit tighter and was rewarded with her lips turning into an almost blinding smile. "Come on. You're not finished yet." Her smile turned into a grin. "And you have to admit: It can only go up from here."

"Yeah." Naruto wasn't too sure about that. If his life had taught him one thing, it was that it could always be worse. But her presence and words did in fact have an impact on him and he took the steps towards the next pillar with quite a bit more confidence than the last one.

When he stepped over the golden line, the fiercely burning flame inside the crystal coalesced into a sight that stole his breath and made him blush at the same time.

The tall woman standing before him was clad in something he had never even heard of. It seemed like she was wearing a full body armor made from metal plates, almost bulky seeming with the horn like protrusions on her shoulders and her gauntlets, and yet it seemed to fit the woman like a glove in other places… namely her chest, hips, and legs. That whole ensemble was colored a stylish yet foreboding black with a crimson red lining the edges and pronouncing her beautifully shaped body even more. Once Naruto managed to tear his eye away from that sight he looked at her face and was startled once more. The luscious black locks falling down almost to her breasts were framing a face that rivaled Megami's and the smooth skin of it was only disrupted by three linear scars going over her left eye, most likely left by some kind of creature. And yet, the scar didn't seem to mar her beauty. On the contrary it even seemed to add to it. But again, the most striking features of her face were her eyes: those silver orbs, the irises framing slit like pupils so similar to Megami's, spoke of power and promised painful retribution to anyone dumb enough to threaten what was hers.

For a moment Naruto wondered if all powerful women were designed to be just as beautiful as they were strong before the twofold snickering from both behind as well as above tore him out of his thoughts. With a frown (it was **not **a pout no matter how much Megami would later tease him about it) he turned around and looked once more at his… well what exactly was she to him? She had promised to never leave him, to always stay by his side no matter what. He felt a warm sensation going through his stomach at that thought. _"Is this what it feels like to have a friend?" _

Not that Megami knew what was going through his head in that moment. She was much more focused on his thoughts from just the moment before. "Ara~, Naruto-kun. Are you already getting bored of me?" Her left arm was crossed over her belly, supporting her right elbow as she pressed her right hand softly against her cheek, her little finger slowly tapping against her skin right below her eye.

The mock expression of hurt and the teasing glint in her eyes did not help with his blush though. "W… wh… what? No! It…! I…! She…! You…!" His spluttering did not help either. The grin appearing on Megami's face was the breaking point he chose to turn around and give her the cold shoulder. Which brought him face to face with the armored woman again who smirked at him teasingly as well, the tip of what was obviously a fang peaking out under her lip. Her arms were crossed under her breasts and her hip cocked to the side. With a long, suffering sigh Naruto closed his eye and prayed once more for the sweet release of death only this time he wasn't sure if he really meant it. At least the blush heating up his face would recede eventually. He hoped. "Can we… just… move on, please?"

"**Are you sure?" **Naruto shook his head at the teasing tone of the male voice. **"You seem to be having fun." **

"What gave you that idea?!" Naruto would admit that the amount of indignation in his voice might have been a bit much but he hoped that it would help to get his point across that he did not want to continue on this line of thought.

"**The smile on your face." **the not quite yet female voice replied.

Faster than he thought was possible, he clamped his hands over his mouth only to feel that: yes, he was smiling like an idiot. "Stupid Keeper. Stupid beautiful women teasing me." he mumbled, but apparently not silent enough because he could hear muffled laughter afterwards.

After a rather suspicious cough, the Keeper cleared its throat. **"You are standing in front of Diana, once a member of the ****O****rder of the Dragon ****S****layers, then a Dragon ****K****night, and eventually known as the Dragon Empress." **Almost immediately, Naruto's hand shot in the air. **"Yes?" **

"Two questions: What is a Dragon Knight and why would she be called 'Dragon Empress' if she used to slay dragons?"

"**Patience, young man." **

Slowly, he lowered his hand. _"__At least they are nicer about __it__ than most of the teachers." _

"**Born to a pair of farmers near Aleroth, Diana lived the first fourteen years of her life loved and content until a raid by the Black Ring took away everything she knew and loved. She was being held at sword point while the murderers of her parents were debating if they should rape her before or after killing her, when that discussion was interrupted with one clean sword strike through their necks. A young woman named Rhode, a member of the Dragon Slayers, had happened on the raid by chance and had seen fit to put an end to it. With nowhere else to go, Diana then joined the Dragon Slayers and, fast forward about seven years, earned her silver eyes. But, on her first mission as a Dragon Slayer she came across the mortally wounded Talana, the last Dragon Knight. You see, Dragon Knights were people who had been blessed by the dragons of old with many powers and abilities, one of them enabling them to turn themselves into dragons. This power was something Talana, in all her hatred for Diana's order, did not want to be lost to the world. Not with threats like the Black Ring still roaming Rivellon. And so, she transferred her essence into Diana, mutating the few draconic powers Dragon Slayers infused themselves with to the point where Diana turned into a Dragon Knight herself." **Without conscious thought, Naruto's hand wandered to his stomach and he looked into the woman's eyes in search for… he didn't even know what he was looking for. Recognition? Comradery? Regret?** "Once she awoke after that ordeal, Diana was faced with two options: Honor the code of the Dragon Slayers and commit suicide or… fight. She decided to fight, to use the powers she had been gifted and bring fire and death over the enemies of Rivellon. But while she fought against Dragon Slayers as well a time or two, she never killed them. Not even when Rhode herself ordered her death." **

Naruto shuddered in horror at that thought. Having what amounts to your family turn on you just because you were given a power you never asked for… that hit far too close to home for comfort. Hastily, he took a few steps backwards, only to be engulfed once more in a warm hug. "Naruto..." It was scary how, just like her arms and tails caressed his body, her voice seemed to do the same thing to his soul and in a corner of his mind, nurtured by years of beat downs and hatred, a dark, pessimistic voice was shouting at him not to fall for empty words and hollow gestures. "You are not her and you never will **be** her. Because **you **already have that power inside you and every person you add to your family from now on will know and accept that that power is not you but only a part of you." It was a completely different kind of scary how easily those dark thoughts were squashed by Megami's words and presence and once more the tears were flooding out of his eye.

"Thank you." Nothing more was said. Nothing more **needed **to be said. She only gave him another reassuring squeeze before she turned him towards the last pillar and pushed him forward one last time. With a deep breath, Naruto stepped over the line and watched in complete shock as the warm, golden-brown light inside the crystal pillar before him turned into a tall, young man that could have been related to him.

He had unruly, almost gravity defying spiky blonde hair and intense, blue eyes only a shade or two darker than his own that seemed to almost radiate kindness and compassion. He was wearing a light blue, long sleeved jacket over a golden chest plate intricately ornamented with light brown branches, 'growing' from the edges inwards, adorned with small symmetrical silver leaves. His feet and hands were protected by boots and gauntlets of similar design and contrasted nicely with the light blue of his jacket and the dark blue of his pants. A long, yellow scarf wound around his neck that fell over his left shoulder and reached his lower back.

There was also, most curiously, a small… creature sitting on his left shoulder. Its front seemed pudgy with a lighter brown making up its belly which, in turn, seemed to make up almost seventy percent of its whole body mass. Its legs, if one chose to call them that, were two short, dark brown spikes poking out beneath its belly and its back was covered with more, and longer, spikes of the same color. Squinting his eye, Naruto could also make out a short tail slowly swaying from left to right behind the creature. It also had large, dull blue eyes connected by a thick, black line that gave the one watching it the impression that it was smiling.

Finally, Naruto allowed himself to take a closer look at the thing that had caught his eye the moment the young man before him had appeared: Namely, the utterly massive, two-handed sword that was resting with its tip in the ground with the young man's right hand gripped around its hilt. It was a weapon Naruto had never seen nor heard of an equivalent to. The pommel was diamond shaped with a topaz let into the recess in its center. The hilt was wrapped in dark brown leather. A golden, ornamented sword guard at least three hands wide divided blade and hilt from each other, with two more topazes worked into the guard tip on each side of the blade right at the edge where the guard was crossing over the blade. The blade itself was almost a foot longer than Naruto was tall and had such a unique shape that he had to wonder who came up with the design: The base of the blade, where it touched the guard, flared out to both sides in a distinct diamond shape until it was almost wider than the guard but then narrowed steadily towards the tip. But the uniqueness and, in Naruto's humble opinion, downright impracticability did not end there because the blade was not made entirely from solid metal. While the cutting edges on both sides were made from the same golden metal as the guard and the pommel, the blade as a whole seemed to lack a spine. Instead, as Naruto squinted his eye once more, the center of the blade almost seemed to be made from glass in a stretched diamond shape, conforming to the overall shape of the blade itself. Just as Naruto was about to speak his thoughts out loud, a small, confident smirk tugged the right corner of the young man's mouth upwards and with no physical indicator of what was about to happen, the blade changed: The 'glass' suddenly began to fill with a light brown mist that seemed to strengthen and deepen in color until it had reached a rich, earthy brown saturation that compared to the brilliance of the topazes like a bonfire did to a match stick. But that was not the reason that made Naruto's jaw drop. No, the reason for that was that he could literally watch as the sword seemed to come to life! In contrast to the dark brown the golden edge seemed to practically shine with power and he could have sworn that the edge also seemed to sharpen to an almost impossible degree. All thoughts of doubt vanished as the impracticable weapon turned from one moment to the next into something downright beautiful.

Muffled snickering and a barely suppressed "Boys!" made Naruto once more aware of his surroundings and once more he turned around and did definitely **not **pout at seeing the humor sparkling in Megami's eyes as she covered her mouth with one delicate hand.

"**Meet Isaac Kyleson: Venus Adept, co-leader of the Warriors of Vale, and later on a Guardian of Weyard." **Naruto breathed out a sigh of relief that the Keeper did not join into the teasing this time. **"He lived his life in Vale, happy and undisturbed, until a natural disaster took his father away from him when he was fourteen years old right in front of his eyes." **A cold shiver ran down Naruto's spine. He did **not **want to know what it would be like to watch someone close to him die right in front of him. **"Isaac was an Adept, someone who was in tune with one of the four elements that made up the foundations of the world and able to influence them. But like with everything else, those abilities do not come without hard work and training. Until that fateful day he had never seen any reason to put in the effort, something he would curse himself for for years to come. But while some would wallow in those feelings of guilt, Isaac and his best friend made a promise to each other: They would never again sit idly by if there was something they could do to help. And so the two of them immersed themselves in the study of Alchemy, the power that connected everything, and Psynergy, the power that connected the individual's mind to the element they were in tune with." **Naruto simply nodded at that. Losing one person like that was bad enough. He would rather die than to lose someone else to anything else but old age if he could prevent it. **"Three years later, though, the cataclysmic event took place that forced him and his best friend to leave his home in an attempt to save the world from certain destruction." **His eye widened once more. What was it with him and similarities to people who had to save the world? **"I will not go into detail of what their journey held in store for them, that would take far too long. But suffice it to say that, while they started their journey as novices in everything, be it Psynergy, swordsmanship, or survival skills, they became strong and capable by necessity. Their quest demanded nothing less if they wanted to succeed. And yet, through all that, they never, not even once, hesitated to help those who asked for or needed it. And to quote Isaac when he told his story years later to his son: 'Saving the world is all nice and well but you have to make sure that people live in a world that is worth saving.'" **

At that, Naruto couldn't keep the massive smile on his face from spreading. This! This was a hero! Not someone born strong or someone who helped because he wanted compensation. This Isaac had started at the bottom like everyone else and grew stronger not to gain power or conquer but to help and save people. A shiver ran through his body when his hand touched the warm crystal of the pillar and his eye widened. He hadn't even noticed his feet moving! But the feeling beneath his hand… this warm, light energy seeping through his skin and running its course through his entire body was… not nice, no… nice was way to mild a word to describe this feeling. It was liberating, almost uplifting, but definitely welcoming. Similar to Megami's hugs though far less intense.

"I see you've made your choice." Shocked, Naruto tore his gaze from his hand and whipped his head up as the smooth, male voice sounded from right in front of him. The male voice, that did definitively not belong to the Keeper. "I have to admit, I'm surprised. And honored." The soft smile on Isaac's lips brightened a bit more at the awed expression on Naruto's face. "Between the five of us you could have chosen much more power than I can offer."

One could watch as the awe on Naruto's face morphed once more into a soft smile before he shock his head slowly but surely. "I don't want power."

At that, Isaac's smile finally showed some teeth. "Then what is it that you want?"

Naruto straightened a bit more at that. This young hero before him did not look at him with condescension for his being or pity for what happened to him. He looked at him almost… like an equal. It felt absolutely empowering!

His smile was basically splitting his face in half. "I want people to see me and be happy and smile! I want people to feel relief when I arrive to help them! And I want to be able to protect the people dear to me!" As Naruto screamed the last statement he pumped his arms in the air, his fists clenched, and looked for once almost like a normal child.

"Well, he certainly has spunk." a sultry voice said behind him. Immediately, Naruto whirled around and came face to… stomach with a certain black plate armor. He followed that plate armor up to a rather voluminous set of breasts, hugged by that same black metal. "Shame." Finally, and agonizingly slow, he tore his gaze away from her… assets… and looked into her face. The mischievous grin on her face foretold nothing pleasant for him in the near future. "You would have made for one seriously hot dragon one day."

Before the massive blush on his face at that statement could spread over the rest of his body, Diana flicked a middle finger against his forehead so strong that it rocked his head back and he had to take a step back to prevent himself from falling on his butt. He groaned in pain and held his head in an attempt to stop his vision from spinning. Once both finally subsided, he glared at her with all he was worth. "Oi! What gives?!"

Diana met his ire with a chuckle and crossed her arms once more under her chest. "Protect what is yours and tear apart what threatens it." With that she was gone without a trace and left Naruto staring into air until the soft sound of a small bell rang through his head and a blue box appeared in front of him.

**You received: _Diana's Blessing_**

**You impressed the Dragon Empress enough that she felt you worthy of a gift.**

**You learned the Skill: _Dragon'__s Rampage_**

Just as he was about to ask what 'Dragon's Rampage' was, he felt a stream of memories flowing through his mind, showing him a basic set of moves ranging from punches to kicks. Naruto stood stock still as that happened and blinked a few times until he finally understood what just happened. "Wow."

The blue box appearing in front of him also helped.

**Dragon's Rampage**

**Level: 1**

**Rank: Novice**

**Description: A ferocious unarmed fighting style created by the Dragon Empress, mimicking a rampaging Dragon. It focuses on dexterity and unpredictable movements.**

**Requirements: Circumvented due to _Diana's Blessing_**

**Type: Passive & Active**

**Passively raises STR by 10%**

**Passively raises VIT by 10%**

**Passively raises DEX by 10%**

**Activation Time: Instant**

**Raises STR by an additional 10% when active**

**Raises DEX by an additional 20% when active**

**Raises Dodge probability by 10% when active**

A soft chuckle made Naruto turn to his left to see the God of Resurrection walk towards him with a leisurely gait, his trident still resting on his shoulders. Once he was finally less then two feet away from Naruto, he crouched down to be on eye level with him and put his left hand softly on the boys shoulder. "Sorry to say kid, but I have no blessing to give you that would benefit you." He closed his eyes and shook his head, his forehead wrinkling slightly in a frown. "No, the only blessing I could give you would be more like a curse to you than anything else." Suddenly, the timeless man's expression turned even more serious. "Instead I'm going to impart you with some wisdom: Always assume that your opponents are more capable than they seem and never give them any quarter in a fight."

And then the frown was gone as Ark rose to his feet once more with a sly grin appearing on his face. "And prank those villagers of yours to hell and back. Never forget how to laugh!"

And just like Diana before him, Arc vanished without a trace.

Naruto barely had time to smile at his last comment when he noticed movement to his left and saw as Isaac stepped out of his crystal, the massive sword strapped to his back this time. The two smiled at each other and Isaac was just opening his mouth to say something when a startled gasped from behind Naruto drew their attention. And what Naruto saw when he turned around made his jaw drop in disbelief.

* * *

When Megami saw Naruto's reaction to Diana's close proximity she could help neither the erratic twitches of her tails nor the chuckle at his embarrassed expression.

But that moment of levity vanished promptly when she felt the two presences behind her. A shiver ran down her spine as she turned around to look at the two… beings. Talion, now fully human, only shifted his eyes from her to Naruto a few times before he gave her a tight smile and a nod before vanishing into nothingness.

Death on the other hand… he stood there, towering over her as easily as he did over Naruto and seemed to stare into her very soul with those motionless, glowing orange eyes for a full five minutes before he finally moved. His left hand rose slowly until it was level with his shoulder and he jabbed it out to the side, his fingers holding an iron grip over nothing. And that is exactly what happened afterwards.

Nothing.

Until a circle consisting of runes and seals appeared on the ground and a visage rose from the a well of darkness that Megami never wished to see again and which drew a gasp from her: Two blood red horns attached to a sickly slim, pale face and a tantō with a bandage wrapped handle trapped between wicked, black teeth framed by a massive mess of white hair.

"_**Who dares to summon me?" **_Megami shuddered as a voice, that could only be appropriately described as a mix between fingernails scratching over a black board and gravel being ground by a millstone, resounded in her mind. This… this was the final specter. A being not supposed to be in the presence of the living. A being no mortal or immortal force in any world could stand against. A being…

"**Shut up." **Megami was ready to keel over right there when she heard the cold, deep voice of the man next to her and almost threw her arms up in complete disbelief when the being feared by everyone seemed to cower beneath the stare of the owner of said voice. Megami, even through her lightheadedness created by the situation, noticed how Death glanced towards Naruto for a second before his stare returned to the Shinigami. **"You have something in your stomach that doesn't belong to you." **

And just like that, he punched his left arm through the white haori of the Shinigami into its stomach. They stayed in that position until Death pulled his arm back just as violently as he had rammed it forward beforehand. Only this time he was holding an almost identical copy of Megami by the neck. 'Almost identical' because that Megami had almost alabaster skin, her hair and tail fur were a shining bright golden and her tails were tipped with black instead of white. She was also completely motionless but in that moment she and her original had that in common. Megami didn't even notice the Shinigami leaving once Death had what he wanted, so entranced was she.

She had known something was wrong… missing. She didn't know what it was for a long time until today, when Naruto walked into the seal and she saw for the first time her size in comparison to a human, albeit a human child. And now… here… a being strong enough to frighten the Shinigami itself was holding half of her power, half of **herself**, like it was nothing. She knew the corrosive effect her chakra had on all matter other than herself and this… **being**… was holding what was basically her chakra in crystallized form without the slightest sign of discomfort.

A being that didn't even deem her worthy of his attention, if the look he was throwing over her head was anything to go by. He held what in that moment could be described as her deepest desire in the grasp of his fingers and didn't think for even a moment that she would be able to take advantage of his absentmindedness. Megami couldn't quite decide if she should feel insulted or even more intimidated at that notion. But he also did not give her the opportunity to decide, either. **"He is young, weak, and uneducated. ****He will need your guidance.****" **Finally, Death's gaze shifted and rooted Megami in placeby narrowing his eyes slightly. **"Don't abuse that fact or I will come for you personally." **

At that insinuation, Megami glared with a heat that would make any human cower in fear. Her hair flared out with fine strings of chakra crackling between them and her tails swayed dangerously from side to side, fear of the being in front of her completely burned away in her fury. "I will **never **betray his trust in me, do you hear me?"

"**Good." **

She could have sworn he had a smirk on his face when he gave her that curt reply but with only his eyes and voice to go by she could have been wrong. Then, almost apathetically, he tossed her other half towards her and vanished.

Shocked, Megami scrambled forward in an attempt to catch the crystallization of her yin-chakra before it could hit the ground, but that endeavor proved itself to be futile as her other half seeped into her when they touched.

It was… it felt… there aren't enough or precise enough words to describe what she felt as the rush of energy flowed through her body. The closest thing she could describe it with was… complete. She felt complete again. A soft smile played around her lips and tears threatened to escape her eyes once more. The relief flooding her system was almost as intoxicating as the sensation of pure happiness she had given to and felt from Naruto.

"Wow."

Naruto's voice shook her out of her moment of reverie and her hand was already almost half way to her head to rub the tears in her eyes away before she realized she didn't need to hide them. Not from Naruto. That small realization brought another smile to her face and she turned around with so much energy that, when she pulled Naruto into her arms the two of them turned on the spot a few more times before coming to a halt. Once more, there were no words. Only a hug that told both of them so much more than could have been said in the same amount of time.

* * *

When Naruto saw what had shocked Megami so much that she lost her composure he was rooted to the ground. That… thing was a nightmare inducing monster that would probably haunt his dreams for a few years. It wasn't just its appearance either. It gave off an aura of malice and death that seemed to paralyze his lungs. When Death dealt with the specter as if it was of no importance, Naruto got an inkling of what absolute power looked like. And then, when the off-colored Megami merged with his Megami, his lungs seemed to refuse to take in air once more. Her looks did not change. Her height remained the same, her hair did not change color, and her tails had that same glossy, almost silk like shine as before. But at the same time she seemed like… more. It was nothing physical and yet everything she was beforehand she was even more so now. And while he noticed that he was walking towards her, the fact also did not really register in his brain.

"Wow."

He hadn't planned to say that. He hadn't planned on saying anything for fear of ruining her moment and indeed, she went rigid for a moment before she turned around, picked him up, and twirled him around with abandon, a bright smile and her face, tears of happiness running down her cheeks and giggling like a ten year old girl on a sugar high.

"I hate to interrupt this touching moment, but you're running out of time." Naruto almost chocked on a laugh when he had a front row seat to watch Megami's tails go ramrod straight in surprise. The mischievous smirk Isaac had on his face did not help much either.

And then the whiplash hit when Megami turned around so fast his vision blurred. "You saw nothing!"

Again, he couldn't stop it. He tried to contain it but it would not be denied. And so, his laughter rang out through the plain. It was a high, pure sound and it shook his body with its intensity. His head thrown into his neck, he could feel tears run down his neck once more.

But this time, when the pressure in his chest finally subsided and he sank with a sigh back into Megami's safe embrace he felt different: he felt safe… and warm. Was this what hope felt like?

Then a short clicking sound broke the silence and Megami stiffened before relaxing just as fast. "Naruto Uzumaki…" Almost immediately, Megami put him back on his feet and Naruto turned around. There Isaac stood, his massive Zweihänder pointing towards the endless, starry sky, his face visible through the crystal of his sword's spine and a soft smile on his lips. "Step forward." Naruto did as he was told and stopped halfway between Megami and Isaac once the latter gave him a crisp nod. "Kneel." Again, Naruto followed the command, went down on one knee and just a few seconds later he felt a warm but unyielding weight press down on his right shoulder.

"You have been tried, longer than you should have been, at an age that should not have permitted it. And yet, you persevered with your heart battered but with your humanity unbroken. You have been found worthy."

The weight was lifted from his right shoulder and a second later pressed down on his left one.

"You have been confronted with the truth. Not the perpetrator of your suffering and yet still its source, you could have hated her. You could have rejected her. But instead you have forgiven her. You have been found worthy."

The weight vanished, only to press down on his right shoulder once more.

"You have been offered power. Power to stand against time, darkness, and even death itself. But you did not choose with greed, malice or ambition. You chose with an ideal in your heart and a wish in your soul. You have been found worthy. From this day forth until the gods deem thee fit to walk these vested halls once more, as is my right as a Guardian of Weyard, I dub thee my champion and grant you your title: Now rise, Naruto Uzumaki, Knight Protector of Weyard.

The weight vanished, this time for good, but Naruto didn't move. Too many thoughts were racing through his head. _"__What just happened? __What's a 'knight'? __And w__hy did I move like this without __hesitation?" _He stared down his front where his right arm was still folded over his torso, his hand clutched over his heart, and his left fist resting on the ground. He had seen ANBU do this before his Jiji, but not quite like he was doing it right now. It was as if he had moved on instinct, but where those were coming from he had no idea.

**You ****received**** the Title: **_**Squire **_

**As a squire you have taken the first step on your way to become a full-fledged knight one day. **

**Permanently increases your experience gain in Swordsmanship by 10%**

The soft ringing of the bell that accompanied the appearance of the new box shocked him out of his thoughts and made him jump to his feet. And only the soft, silky appendage snaking itself around his waist prevented him from turning around and not-pouting at the giggling coming from behind.

Instead he looked stubbornly forward into the amused eyes of Isaac. And he even would have been quite successful in projecting a serious demeanor if his face wasn't beet red and his right hand slowly stroking the tail that kept him in place.

Once again he sighed in an attempt to fight his embarrassment. "What's a 'knight'?"

Isaac, who had his sword once more placed on his back, crossed his arms while striking a thinking pose. After a while he nodded to himself. "A knight is a warrior loyal to his king and called upon during war times to defend his king and country. They are bound by oath to serve and fight with honor. I think the closest thing you could compare them to in your world would be the samurai, fighting with swords and armor and serving a daimyo."

A tremor went through the tail hugging Naruto and he turned his head to look at Megami who now wore a slight frown on her face. "We don't live in a world where the honorable live too long."

Naruto's mouth opened to give a retort but closed it again almost immediately at the sad smile she gave him. She was right. Ninja didn't fight with honor. They got the job done.

"True." That single word made Naruto turn around once more and stare at Isaac in disbelief. "Knights, like I told you about, were an ideal." His stern look somehow did not fit on his kind face, even if it gave his words more credence. "Even less, they were seldom more than an idea. On paper, every knight, once sworn in and knighted, was a saint who protected the weak, fought evil, and prevailed with 'honor'.

The dark look on the man's face was even less fitting and sent a shiver not just through Naruto but through Megami as well. "Some think it is an honorable thing to demand the daughters of their charges for the night because it is their right and the girl should feel 'honored' to service her lord."

Suddenly, the scenery around them changed. The pillars, as well as the floor shifted into nothingness and gave way to a wide meadow with people amassing around large stacks of wood. Naruto blinked to make sure he was seeing right but… there were people standing on those stacks. Men, women, even children! What were…

"Some people… think it to be honorable to burn people alive because their beliefs differed or because the people believed them to be or to house evil."

For better and worse, there were no sounds reaching Naruto's ears. For better because he didn't have to listen to the furious screams and shouts of another rabid mob. For worse… because the experience of witnessing the cries for help and mercy from men, women, and even children close to his age going unheeded, or in their case unheard, had a truly haunting component to it.

Thankfully, the world turned black just as some of the monsters started throwing torches at the pyres. And just a moment later, Naruto stood once more in the Hall of Heroes, slightly trembling, until the tail around his waist slipped away only to be immediately replaced by Megami's arms around his neck and torso.

"And again some people…" Naruto looked up and finally saw Isaac smiling once again. "… think it to be honorable to retaliate to torture and abuse with nonlethal means. Some people think it to be honorable to forgive the source of your pain because she was never the instigator. It all depends on how you define 'honor'.

A smirk found its way onto Isaac's face again. "But, then again, I did not make you a knight, did I?" At the confused looks the other two gave him, Isaac chuckled a bit. "A 'Knight Protector' does not, no matter how amusing that thought sounds, protect knights. A knight protector is, similar to a knight, a warrior. But he does not fight for honor. A knight protector's first responsibility is to the safety of his people. He fights honorable if the situation permits but never at the cost of his charges. A knight protector does not conquer nor does he kill with abandon. A knight protector chooses what is right over what is easy. But first and foremost:…"

Isaac went down on one knee to be level with Naruto and almost had to chuckle again at the star-eyed expression the young man wore on his face. "A knight protector keeps his people safe and everyone he deems worthy and does everything in his power fro them to stay that way." Then, he lightly poked him over the heart with pointer and middle finger of his right hand and finally caused him to look down.

There, on Isaac's outstretched left hand sat a being quite similar to the one that had sat on his shoulder when he was in the crystal and only absentmindedly Naruto noticed that he was suddenly no longer wearing his gauntlets. Almost unnoticeable, Naruto shook his head to focus his thoughts on the small being in front of him: This one's torso was less pudgy but at the same time it seemed overall bulkier. The spikes that had littered the other one were not present and instead the deep brown 'armor' seemed to have developed into crystalline formations on this one's body. It's tail also ended in a bulky crystal instead of the two sharp spikes the last one had. It made this one seem harder but at the same time all around less threatening. If they could be viewed as 'threatening'. They, after all, fit rather comfortably in the palm of a grown man.

"What you are looking at is an Elemental or, as they are more commonly known, a Djinn. In this case a Venus Djinn to be specific." At the questioning look Naruto gave him, Isaac chuckled once more and ruffled the young man's hair. The embarrassed squeak he let out at that and the subsequent cooing of one truly monstrous and bloodthirsty Kyuubi only lightened the atmosphere further. "There are four elements: Venus, or also commonly called 'Earth', Mars, also known as 'Fire', Jupiter, or 'Wind', and Mercury, or, and far less tongue twisting, 'Water'. These four keep the world in balance because there can be no life if even one of them is missing."

"But what are these 'Djinns'?" One should not forget that for everything he went through, Naruto was still only twelve years old.

Isaac's retort of "Patience, young one." was only met by a snort from the woman still holding onto Naruto as if he were a giant plushy. "And what's so funny?"

Naruto wasn't able to see it because she wouldn't let go of him, not that he complained, but he could almost hear the eye roll in her voice. "You're not much older than him."

Isaac looked up to her face from his kneeing position and lifted an eyebrow. "Are **you **judging my age from my appearance?"

"Huh." Two pairs of eyes shot at that sound to its origin. "That's right!" With a bit of wiggling Naruto managed to turn around in Megami's embrace and look into her eyes. "You're old!" The cheeky grin on his face was blinding. And the loud snort behind him was audible to all.

Dangerously, Megami's ruby eyes narrowed. "And you are tiny."

"Yes, but I can still grow!"

Slowly, her luscious lips widened until the formed a rather nerve-wracking grin and the grip she had on him tightened uncomfortably. "Not if you keep that tone, you won't."

Naruto had an epiphany at that moment: You never, **ever**, call a woman 'old' if you want to live. No matter how nice they were to you or how comfortable you feel around them.

Not that he could retract his statement or apologize for it right now. He decidedly lacked the oxygen in his lungs for that.

"Please stop that. His face is already too blue for comfort." And just a moment later, Naruto's relief was expressed wordlessly in a deep and rather audible intake of sweet air.

"You were going to explain to us what exactly a 'Djinn' is." Isaac sweat dropped comically at that. If he hadn't just witnessed it, he wouldn't have been able to guess that she had just been suffocating a twelve year old. This was one scary woman. Maybe even more so than his Jenna. He shuddered a bit at the memory of what his wife had done to him when she found out that he had sent their son on that journey to find a Roc.

Subtly, he cleared his throat and held the Djinn in his hand a bit higher so the both of them had a better view of it. "Djinni, as their more scientific term already implies, are manifestations of elemental energy and able to enter a symbiotic relationship with an Adept."

"Why do you call yourself an 'Adept'?"

Most people would by now feel irritated that they had been interrupted not once but twice. But both Isaac and Megami only smiled at that. It showed once more that beneath all the scars and the pain edged into Naruto's young body, there was still a child in there and its curiosity demanded to be satisfied.

But as this time Megami volunteered to ruffle Naruto's hair, Isaac simply waited until Naruto was once more able to take in information. "If you are adept in something it means that you can do something or that you have experience in doing something. You might be even very good at it. But that is all you ever will be." Isaac became once more serious. "Now listen close and listen good, because this lesson might be the most important thing I will impart you with: You can master a technique, a fighting style, or an instrument. But there is no 'mastering' the elements. In my prime I was able to go toe to toe with beings that were the closest things to gods you could imagine. I was able to tend to and heal the most grievously wounded. I was able to form the earth after my will. And with time, you might be able to do the same. But neither I, nor you, would ever be able to stop an active volcano from erupting. Neither would we ever be able to calm down a storm or lay a tsunami to rest. We are able to weather those events with enough experience but we could never stop them."

Softly, Isaac put his balled fist against Naruto's chest. "We call ourselves 'Adepts' to remind us that no matter how strong and powerful we become, at the end of the day we are all still mortal."

Slowly, Naruto nodded. He didn't know if Isaac had intended to do so, but unwittingly or not, he had just gotten a measure of what the hero in front of him was capable of. Suddenly, he no longer seemed so out of place in a list of gods, specters, and primordial forces and Naruto was trying to wrap his head around the idea that one day the same thing might be able to be said about him as well.

Lost for words, Naruto simply pointed at the Djinn in Isaac's hand.

Isaac mustered Naruto a few seconds longer to see if his lesson had sunk in before he nodded curtly. "Like I said, Djinni are basically symbionts. The stronger an adept grows, the stronger they grow and the more power do they grant you in return. Due to that, they start off as quite weak, but in time you will be strong enough to unlock more of their abilities." Isaac lifted his hand with the Djinn up once more so they could look closer if they wanted. "This is Salt. He's been with me for many years now and I'm sure he'll be just as helpful to you as he has been to me."

Without warning, Salt jumped from Isaac's hand, and a distance at that that one would not expect from something with its stature, straight at Naruto's chest where it, against Naruto's best efforts to catch it and similar to what happened with Megami before, accompanied by a soft, light brown light, sank through Naruto's clothes and into his body.

For a moment, two of the three were shocked silent and were waiting with baited breaths for something to happen until a soft rush of energy went through Naruto, ending, to Megami's endless amusement, in his hair, fluffing it up even more.

"But…" After Naruto was finished glaring at Megami, he focused back on what happened and started to frown. "Won't he miss you? … or you him?"

And while Isaac's soft smile at his question did alleviate his concerns a bit it did not answer his question. "Some Djinni, like my friend Flint, …" As if on command, the first Djinn Naruto had seen appeared on his shoulder with a soft spoken 'Yo!'. "… are social and talkative. He's been with me since I first ventured out on my adventure and helped me through most of my journey, along with my other comrades. Many others though, like Salt for example, …" And at that his face fell and his voice went flat. "… are less talkative than stone and lazier than my cat on a sunny afternoon. He could not care less about what happened to the world as long as he is comfortable and he wouldn't bother supplying you with power if that wasn't an automated process."

Naruto giggled at his expression and nodded to communicate that he had understood his explanation. There was a certain Nara clan heir in his class that fit that description too well for him not to get it.

The smile soon returned to Isaac's face at the sound of childish glee and once more he placed his hand on Naruto's head. Only this time he didn't ruffle his hair. It simply rested there for a moment making the younger of the two blondes feel even warmer than before until Isaac rose to his feet and his hand slid through Naruto's hair on its way to its owner's side. "And with that… I think it's time for you to leave."

"What?" The shock in Naruto's voice was audible to all and his expression seemed almost heartbroken at that. He had to leave? He didn't want to leave! Here, he had met people – no, **heroes – **who had treated him nicely, who saw him as himself, as someone who had potential, Isaac even going so far as saying that on the day of his death he would be admitted to this place, to the **Hall of Heroes**! Here, he wasn't seen with animosity or hatred. Here, he had found an older-brother-figure, someone he could look up to, someone he could aspire to be like. Someone…

The soft finger flick to his forehead tore him out of the maelstrom of sadness and depression he was losing himself in and he blinked, his on good eye focusing back on the man standing in front of him. "None of that, Naruto." Surprisingly, it was Megami who said that. "It was clear from the start that we wouldn't be able to stay, nor should we stay."

Confused, Naruto tried to look up only to see Isaac nod approvingly at Megami on the way. "She's right. This is not a place for the living. You've been given leave for a short while but your time is almost up. And on that note, one last lesson: If you want to come here once more, don't try to be like me."

Naruto was shocked by the statement, only to belatedly notice that Isaac was starting to fade, his body looking less corporeal by the second, just like the horizon of the hall was slowly vanishing behind a thick wall of fog. "What do you mean!?"

Thankfully his voice was not fading in the same measure his body was, because Naruto already had problems seeing his grin. "Never try to** be** like someone. You will only hinder your growth and create a fake persona you think would be like the one you are trying to imitate. If you look up to someone, be yourself and aspire to become** better** than them."

And then he was gone. Just like the hall. All Naruto was able to see was fog. He could literally not see his hand in front of his eye. **"****It is time to say goodbye." **Both Megami and Naruto jerked their heads upwards. With everything that had happened they had almost entirely forgotten about the Keeper. **"Remember, young one: A hero is not a hero because he wants to. He is a hero because he has to." **

With that, the fog faded away and the two were engulfed by complete darkness.

* * *

When she came to, the first thing she noticed was the uncomfortable feeling of something heavy lying on the base of her tails. With a soft growl, she opened her eyes ready to rip into that something, only to see a still unconscious Naruto lying on top of her. Slowly she blinked a few times and licked her lips, before she carefully lifted Naruto off of her as she rose into a sitting position and placed him on the ground of… she looked around and had to do a double take: she was back in her cell. She would know those dreary walls anywhere. Only this time he was there with her and… the door was open. She couldn't help the involuntary wagging of her tails at that sight and she yipped in elation when she saw this. Only to freeze when she realized that Naruto was still… sleeping… Her eyes narrowed dangerously when understanding hit her. "We need to talk!" And she didn't have to wait long before the black box appeared once more.

**Don't tell him about his parents. **

For a second Megami thought she had read wrong but after the seventh time going over the same six words, she was only just barely able to keep herself from trying once more to tear the box into tiny pieces. Instead she forced air through her clenched teeth and crossed her arms. "Why?"

**Because you are not enough. **

A growl rolled out of her throat before she could stop herself and the hurt struck deep, but she would not appreciate that answer with a response. Instead she deflected. "That line-up was deliberate. You wanted him to choose Kyleson. Why?"

A drawn out moment long she got no response before the black box returned with just as short an answer as before.

**He needed hope. **

That, she could not deny. "Elaborate."

**Someone interfered. He should not have lived the life he lived. **

**He should have been a little brat that you would hate to be mentioned in the same sentence as. **

**He should not have been able to break you out of your hatred.**

**Not yet.**

She shuddered. Those soulless, rage filled, crazed, blood red eyes. Unnoticed, a tear stole its way out of her eyes before the phantom sensation of Naruto's hand softly grasping hers tore her once more away from the image of what she might have been. "Tell me." Her voice was no longer confident or angry. It was resigned. She had to know.

**You would have met about a year from now. **

**Only he would have been carefree, naive, and loud. **

**He would have pestered you for your chakra. **

**And you would have hated him. **

**And he you. **

The last statement was what tore at her heart the most. Not the thought of a boy as was described hating her, but this one. **Her **Naruto hating her. It was almost too much.

**This would have gone on for almost four years before he would finally earn your respect. **

**But it would have been too late. **

**He still would have saved you.**

**But you would not have marked him. **

**He wouldn't have been worthy. **

Finally, it all became too much and her legs gave away. She had been so close to Naruto that she almost planted her knees in his side, but instead she only grazed him. She was just this short of hyperventilating but after a few minutes she managed to calm down enough. Then, with shaky fingers, she reached out and pulled on the zipper of his jumpsuit, laying his chest bare for her to see.

She had to see it.

She **had **to!

There!

Still trembling, her fingers slowly stroked over her mark, right over his heart. A red fox caught in a running motion with nine tails arranged in a manner that they formed a perfect sphere behind it, each of them sprouting a small, blue flame.

He was worthy!

He was **hers**!

A shaky smile finally found its way on her face. A few hours ago, she would have claimed that she would never find anyone worthy enough of her trust and now, the simple thought of this little boy not having her mark was enough to bring her to her knees.

**You still won't be enough.**

This time she skipped the warning growl and outright snarled at the box. "He is **mine**!"

**And you are his.**

**It does not change anything. **

Megami bit her tongue to the point where she drew blood but she didn't care. Once more, it took a couple of minutes for her to calm down but once she had managed to do so she asked the same question as before: "Why?"

**Because Danzo is dead. **

Another growl. Danzo. How she hated that name. He was everything her father had tried to eradicate from the world and a prime example why she had hated the whole of humanity: A warmonger with a god complex and a sense of entitlement that was quite frankly scary. _"But what would he… __wait… the Clan Restoration Act? But why… oh come on!__" _She groaned in exasperation. "He would have suppressed the CRA in hope of limiting his independence, right?"

**Yes.**

A word. One. Single. Word! And it was enough for Megami to want to bash her head against a wall. Repeatedly. The one person she would have wished to witness every single moment of death by slow disembowelment for what he had tried to have done to Kushina had died and, coincidentally, had been the same person who would have made it possible for her to have her cake and eat it whole.

After a while, a resigned sigh escaped her lips and she slumped backwards. "You didn't explain why Kyleson."

**His abilities are quite similar to the ones of ****a ninja**** and won't call for too much attention. At least at first. **

**He looked quite similar to Naruto and made it possible for Naruto to see himself in him. **

**He also was as good a person as anyone can aspire to be. **

**But before all: he needed a role model, and he needed one now. **

If Naruto had been awake, he would have gotten back at Megami and called her out on her pouting. But alas… "Let me guess: 'I wouldn't have been enough.'?"

**He doesn't know you. **

Another pang in her heart but not a heavy one. That was after all only a matter of time.

**He doesn't know his parents.**

**Sarutobi ****has kept secrets ****from**** him. **

**Jira****i****ya**** has unknowingly left him in his own, personal hell.**

**Iruka is too strict and too busy.**

**The Ichirakus are not ninjas. **

**He needed someone he could look up to. A personal hero. Someone he could aspire to overcome. **

**And Isaac Kyleson fit that bill.**

That point she had to concede. Kyleson was a good role model for Naruto. And, if she was honest, he would have even been able to give her some trouble if what she felt from him in that one moment where he had lost control of himself in his anger was accurate. Something else she could look forward to in her future if Naruto actually managed to surpass him. A giddy grin spread her lips and she couldn't quite keep her giggle inaudible.

Furiously, she shook her head. _"Head in the game, Megami!" _She ignored another rush of giddiness when she called herself by that name.A deep breath later and she was focused once more. "So why do you not want me to tell him about his parents? Does he not deserve to know the truth?"

**He does. **

Megami was quite surprised by the quick answer, as well as the admission but still waited patiently.

**But Sarutobi had his reasons for not telling Naruto and if you tell him now and therefore not give Sarutobi a chance to explain himself to him you will create a fissure between the two they won't be able to overcome. **

**And you are just not enough. **

**He needs his family.**

**His _entire _family.**

**And you are simply only a part of that. **

Megami glared at the box. She had done it again. Nobody likes to hear that they are not enough. But damn it if she wasn't right! It was a bitter pill to swallow, but she was right. "Fuck you." But nobody could tell her that she had to be happy about it.

* * *

He awoke to the sensation of someone brushing their fingers slowly through his hair. It was a completely foreign feeling, not wanting to jump out of bed and instead enjoying slumbering on. But he wouldn't be himself if he lazed around all day and therefore attempted to sit up. Which was prevented by his blanket which apparently did not want him to leave. Puzzled, he opened his eyes, only to wonder for a moment why his vision was so… limited. And just like that, memories bombarded his mind and he jerked. Not in any direction. His blanket was still refusing to move. But he jerked in general.

Finally, he focused his remaining eye on the vision of serenity above him. The ruby eyes, the whiskers, the silky, orange-red hair… all of her was like he remembered. He liked the soft smile she had on her face. "It wasn't a dream?"

Her smile widened a bit. "No."

"You won't leave me, will you?"

Slowly, she shook her head, her smile still just as serene as before and once more he could feel a hand brushing through his hair. "No."

There was a lull in which Naruto could do nothing but watch her face. It was a novel experience to simply look at someone who had the same whisker marks as him on their face. But after a few minutes he had quite a pressing question to ask. "Are you going to let me up?"

Her smile still stayed the same. "No."

…

"Why?"

…

Finally her smile changed shape and turned into a fanged grin with not just a small bit of mirth in it. "Because I'm not done touching your hair. Seriously! How is it so fluffy and soft!?"

Almost instantly, embarrassment hit him like a douse of water. With a nice shade of pink on his face he tried to escape her grasp but his blanket, which turned out to be a few of her tails after a short inspection, would not let him go and he was therefore left at her mercy to his played suffering and her genuine pleasure.

They stayed like that for a few more minutes before his thoughts started to wander and left the pleasurable feeling behind. "So… what now?"

**Now it's time for you to wake up.**

Naruto tried to jerk up once more when the box appeared before them, but was prevented just like before. In the bliss of silence and slow petting he had conveniently suppressed any thoughts about the 'game'. Therefore, the appearance of the black box shocked him in and of itself.

And that was only magnified once he read what it said in earnest.

He could basically feel the dread, that cold, cruel feeling, encroaching on his heart and he barely recognized the hoarse voice that responded with a croaked: "I don't want to wake up. I… I…"

Almost immediately, her tails were lifted from his body and he was pulled into a tight embrace. "Shhh…" It was a novel experience. To both reactions really. He couldn't really remember the last time he had been this afraid. He had lived too long in acceptance. And never, not even once, had he had someone to try and soothe his fear. It was so… new. "You are asleep, but you are not dreaming. This – all that happened here and there – was real."

He struggled again, stronger than before, and this time she let him ago. But he surprised her. While he did jump to his feet, and stumbled a few steps forward due to the missing obstruction, he did not try to gain distance from her. Instead, he turned around and looked soulfully into her eyes. And it was truly a devastating sight. His one remaining eye was glistening with unshed tears while on the other side they were streaming unobstructed from his closed eyelid. "How can you be sure? H-how can I be sure? I c-could be dreaming all of t-this! And i-if this i-is a dream, y-you could be saying that only because I want to hear that! I-If this i-is a d-dream, I… don't want it to e-end." The last part, he only whispered, but her ears seemed good enough to pick it up anyway, if the soft flick of her right one was anything to go by.

For a moment she knelt there in seiza, eye to eye with him, until she smiled softly and waved him a bit closer. At first, Naruto did not react, but after she waved once more and kept her smile on her face, he took the three steps closer that separated them.

Almost instantly, once he stopped moving, he felt four of her tails snake around each of his limbs, effectively rooting him to the spot.

Her smile changed into a feral grin and he closed his eye.

But instead of the expected pain from either a finger flick, or a headbutt, or a punch, or a finger stab, or a…

Something soft pressed against his forehead. Something soft and slightly moist.

Speechless, he opened his eye… and saw the brown skin and soft angle of her chin.

She couldn't be doing what he thought she was doing. She wouldn't…

Then she leaned back and there was that soft smile again.

"Did you expect me to kiss you?"

He could only shake his head.

"Did you want me to kiss you?"

And once more.

"Do you want me to kiss you again?"

And once mo…

His head stopped in the middle of the motion as if stuck and his eye darted everywhere but in front of him until he finally found enough courage to look her in the eye. "… Maybe?"

She snickered and let go of him, which caused him to stagger backwards, because his body had all the tension of a wet noodle, only to be caught by her tails once more, this time accompanied by her loud and vocal amusement.

Going by the heat he felt he was sure that his blush was burning permanent marks into his face.

**Are you going to be okay?**

The sudden question stunned Naruto for a bit. He couldn't quite decide which part of the conversation exactly the question was about and if its tone was serious or teasing. "I…" Searching for help, he looked at Megami who simply gave him a supportive nod. "I guess?"

**Don't worry. You'll see her again. **

Naruto caught on almost immediately. He wouldn't have survived for as long as he did if he didn't have a quick wit. "But not you?"

The following lull in the conversation was answer enough and the correspondent on the other side seemed to think so as well if one was to go by their response.

**I've already spent more time with you than I should have. **

Again, that was something Naruto wasn't quite sure how to take. In the end he decided that a polite approach could not hurt him. "Thanks… for everything."

**Don't mention it.**

When nothing else came, Naruto turned his gaze once more to Megami, the rigidness in his body speaking volumes. No one would attack a teacher or the Hokage and while the civilians would partially ostracize them, they would never do bodily harm to the Ichirakus. But now, for the first time in his life, Naruto had gotten something he was afraid to lose. And because it felt better and more realistic than any dream he had ever had, the fear of loss was that much stronger as well. "So… how do I leave?"

With a chuckle, Megami lifted a finger and poked him playfully in his belly, right in the center of his seal. "I will always be here."

He jerked. But not out of fear. She had hit a ticklish spot. The grin on her face disappeared just as quickly as it had appeared and went completely unnoticed by a certain blonde party. There would come a day when she would use that knowledge to its fullest potential. But that day was not today.

She continued seamlessly by lifting her hand a bit and placed the flat of her hand over his heart. "I will always be here."

Her hand left his chest and wandered up until her pointer was pressing lightly against his forehead. "And hopefully, sometimes I will be here."

But there, her finger stayed and a slight frown darkened her expression. "Naruto…" He stopped staring at her finger and his eye moved to focus on her again. "When you see Sarutobi ask him about your parents."

"Jiji?" But before he could ask any questions she pushed and Naruto fell backwards. On instinct he prepared himself for the inevitable hard impact on the floor. But instead he kept falling.

And falling…

And falling…

It was scary. One moment there were walls and a ground and Megami… And the next: darkness. Darkness and gravity pulling him down and further down all the while his thoughts were racing.

"_Is this the only way out of there?"_

"_Is this the nightmare after the dream?" _

"_Why did she… want me to… ask Jiji…" _

It was then Naruto noticed it. His thoughts were getting more sluggish by the moment and his heart beat was slowing down. All of a sudden he had problems keeping his eye open. Or was it… closed?

…

There was a beeping noise somewhere nearby.

A few people where also there, breathing heavily as if they had run there.

When he managed to open his eye, everything was blurry. But there was the shape of a person: A strange person with a triangle shaped head…

He tried to blink a few times to get the blurs out of his vision but it only helped partially. Now at least he could make out that the head was actually a hat and a red one at that, with some kind of character displayed on the front.

A triangle shaped, red hat? Wasn't there…

"… Jiji?" His throat felt like sandpaper but it didn't matter.

"_Jiji is here." _

But there was something… wasn't there? His head felt so heavy. As if his brain had been turned into lead.

But… there was something… a question… for his… Jiji?

* * *

"_What just happened?"_

…

"_I don't know."_

* * *

Hiruzen's eyes wandered up and down on Naruto's body in worry and ignored with accustomed ease the fact that the number of occupants in the room had gone from four to seven in the last few seconds. He knew his ANBU would not act without his say so, something he would not do until he knew exactly what had caused the Kyuubi's chakra surge as well as its immediate disappearance.

Of course, he could take a guess at what had happened. A worst fear if he was honest and a scenario that could very much threaten Konoha as a whole if it was true. His job actually demanded of him to give the order, to not take any risks.

But he couldn't do it.

Not now. Not when one of the greatest mistakes of his entire life was resting before him.

"What do you mean 'you don't know.'?" The worry and fear in the young girl's voice was clear to hear. And to be honest: also understandable.

"What I mean, Sakura-chan…" Hiruzen averted his eyes from the young boys still body and looked at the pinkette with a stern gaze. "… is that I don't know. I can guess. I can fear and I can hope. But I don't know."

But the rustling of fabric, accompanied by the grinding sounds of blades slowly being drawn, prevented any further questions and centered the attention of everyone, combatant and non-combatant, on the source of the former sound.

Random movements, a twitch of a toe or a finger, the, sadly unsuccessful, attempts to move his limbs, the soft groans escaping his half open mouth, and the deepening of his breaths indicated Naruto's slow struggle into consciousness. It took him almost two minutes of moving various muscles of his face before he finally managed to open his one remaining, cerulean eye. But even then it was only half-lidded and Hiruzen could see that he was even now fighting to keep it open even that far.

And yet he was searching for something, his eye grazing unknowingly or perhaps even instinctual over two of the spots his ANBU were hiding until it came to rest on him.

Hiruzen had to suppress a gasp. The energy, the **fire**, that he was so used to seeing in his eyes… eye… was gone, leaving behind a barely recognizable dull imitation of them. Naruto blinked slowly.

And once more before he closed his mouth and moved his jaw, most likely in an attempt to moisten his throat. "… Jiji?" But it did nothing to change the fact his voice was hoarse, soft, and weak. Over all, very much like his eye: almost unrecognizable.

"Yes, Naruto-kun?" Hiruzen moved a bit closer to be able to hear his surrogate grandson better.

"Am I dead?"

The two soft gasps to his right very much summarized Hiruzen's emotional turmoil but he didn't let it show on his face, instead attempting to put a soft, calming smile on his face, though he was neither sure of how it turned out and if Naruto could even see it. "No, Naruto-kun. You're not."

There was a lull, until…

"Oh…"

'Oh.' That basically put it all out there, didn't it? That and the small tears leaking out of the side of Naruto's eye.

"… Jiji?"

"… Yes, Naruto?" It came out more like a half sob rather than a real reply but Naruto did not notice and nobody else who was present would ever comment negatively on the Hokage's slip in his emotions.

"… Did you…" He swallowed once more. "… know my parents?" The last part was so soft spoken, so drenched in despair… but in the utter silence of the room it was heard by everyone.

"Yes."

Naruto blinked again and much slower than last time. It was obvious he was just barely hanging onto consciousness. "Did…" And here he hesitated, swallowed, and swallowed again, while the stream of tears intensified. "Did they love me?"

Hiruzen's entire world froze. Had he… had he never… not even once? Furiously, he searched his memory to find any trace of conversations pertaining the boy in front of him and the topic of his parents but there was only the one…

"_Jiji?" _

"_Yes Naruto-kun?" _

"_Do you know who my parents were?" _

_Finally, I looked up from my paperwork and saw the expression of played nonchalance on his face._

_What I was going to say was going to tear at my heart but I shook my head nonetheless. "I'm sorry, Naruto-kun." _

That couldn't be it, could it? There had to be more! Sometime, somewhere…

…

No…

…

Nothing…

He had never again asked about his parents. _"He didn't want me to lie to him again.", _was the realization that came to his mind almost immediately and one he would later on have to think in length about its ramifications.

Tearing his thoughts back into the present, he focused his attention back on the single eye looking at him from below waiting for a reply the boy should have received as soon as he could understand words.

Hiruzen was surprised that he even managed a shaky smile despite the emotional turmoil that simple question had caused in him. "They loved you more than life itself and gave their lives so you could survive."

Naruto blinked once more. Though with how long it took for him to open his eye again Hiruzen was not sure if he was blinking or simply closing his eye. But when his eye opened once more, he was smiling.

Not the bright, wide smile Hiruzen knew and loved, but a soft, shy, almost imperceptible smile. One that threw him back to a time when an almost carbon copy of the boy in front of him, simply without the whisker marks, was lying on a similar bed because he had tried to impress him when he visited the academy and accidentally dropped a kunai on his own foot. With the sharp point downwards.

"Thanks, Jiji." The vision broke and left behind the far more severely injured son of said child. Naruto closed his eye once more and this time it stayed that way. After a few moments, his breathing evened out and he was asleep once more, leaving three shocked and three distraught onlookers to deal with their emotions on their own.

"Don't thank me, Naruto…" Again, if anyone was shocked at the amount of grief in the Hokage's voice no one mentioned it. "Not for this… not for something I should have told you years ago."

* * *

Sakura was… well she wasn't really sure what she felt. Sadness? Despair? Self-hatred? Whatever it was she was feeling, it was numbed. **She** felt numb. As if her brain had at some point short-circuited due to an emotional overload and was trying to get back online without her to have to completely shut down. She felt like a passenger in her own body as she looked at the shivering form of the Hokage who was still crouched over the bed looking down at the resting body of a boy she had tormented for years only to finally decide enough was enough.

Her dull eyes shifted to her left where Hinata was busy bawling her eyes out, which were, unseeing as they were at the moment, still glued to Naruto's still form.

Almost mechanical, Sakura lifted her hand to her face and touched her cheek. Dry. There were no tears. Smooth. She wasn't pulling any kind of pained grimace. A twitch at the corner of her mouth. But she managed to suppress the self-depreciating laugh that threatened to come out of her mouth. _"Figures." _She turned around and left the room unopposed. _"__Naruto tries to kill himself to be able to see his parents and I can't even muster a speck of pity or remorse." _

It took her a few minutes until she left the hospital but the fresh air did not change what she felt either. So she walked on.

* * *

When Hiruzen managed to compose himself and sat down on his chair, the first thing he noticed was the absence of Sakura but that was something that had no true importance right now. "Neko."

The ANBU captain stepped immediately out of the shadows next to the headrest of Naruto's bed. "Yes, Hokage-sama?"

"I want to be notified the moment Naruto wakes up again and is strong enough to hold a conversation."

"Hokage-sama?"

But Hiruzen brought her to silence with a single glare. "The only reason why Konoha still stands, why we **all **are still alive, lies next to me in a hospital bed and is in such a state that a single scratch more would be enough for the Shinigami to come down and claim his soul! We owe this young boy everything! And we repaid him by either torturing or not noticing said torture his entire life!" Hiruzen jumped to his feet, his sadness and despair seemingly forgotten and replaced by a primal fury that broke his chakra control and let his aura seep out of him. "I am going to try and repay at least some of my debts. Did I make myself clear?"

Neko gave a sharp nod. "Hai, Hokage-sama!"

Hiruzen turned and looked down at the young Hyuuga who was looking up at him with wide eyes, tears still flowing down her cheeks, and his anger calmed significantly. Gently, he placed a hand on her shoulder and turned her towards the door. "Come. Let him rest. Come back when he is awake. He is going to need some friends and I'm sure Naruto-kun would be delighted if you told him that you want to be friends with him."

Hinata only nodded silently, her head still turned over her shoulder to look at Naruto before Hiruzen led her through the door. Only once the door closed did she look in front of her and nodded once more, this time to herself, determined to finally act instead of cowering the next time she got a chance to talk to her crush.

* * *

**A/N: **

**Sorry for the long delay. I've been working on this chapter since I uploaded the last one but it was come and go with both my motivation to write as well as my inspiration. **

**Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I tried to infuse more humor into this one, but the circumstances were still pretty grim so I'm not really sure if it worked as I intended. **

**Also, an imaginary cookie goes to the first person who can list all five games I took the characters for the 'choice' from. Just a small help: I did not limit myself to any kind of console. **


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